


Evaluation Days

by ShadeDuelist



Series: TrossiDuelist stories [4]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2574008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadeDuelist/pseuds/ShadeDuelist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(made with the blessing of Deviantart's trossidevil, who has lent me her two pyros, Jarrod and James)</p><p>Six pyros get called in for an evaluation... how bad could it get?  As it turns out... pretty damn bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The meeting

“...Okay, so tell me, who are we supposed to be waiting for here?”, Sam asked, carefully wiping her hair out of her face and settling her satchel on her back again before swatting Gabriel's hand away from her behind for what seemed like the millionth time. “Gabriel, at least _try_ to keep your hands off me, you know we're supposed to split up as soon as the others are here-”

“Yeah, yeah, j'sais, j'sais, mon ange... but we've gonna have to keep our hands off each other for an entire _day_ and I don't know if I can manage that... that's why I keep it up-”, Gabriel reacted, the beginnings of a lewd smile on his face, but then he yelped and brought the offending hand to his shoulder instead to rub the painful spot where he'd just been hit by the colleagues they'd been waiting for.

“Dantan, if you look like that when the Administrator-General interviews you, it'll be a wonder you'll still have a job at all when you leave this city.”

“Eileen! Teresa!”, Sam said happily, hugging both women in turn – Eileen rolled her eyes when receiving the embrace of her colleague, and Teresa gladly allowed Sam to kiss her on either cheek twice. Gabriel got to embrace only his RED colleague, since he didn't dare even hold out his arms to Eileen, who seemed like she objected to his very presence. “...My god, it feels like it's been forever since we last saw you guys! When was it... that press event, three months ago? Oh, wait, there was a New Year's party between then and now, too-”

“Oh, yeah, but we didn't attend.”, Teresa said, winking at Sam. “So, uh, how have you been? Still terrorizing both sides with your misconduct?” Sam chuckled and nodded.

“Oh, our engineers have gotten so used to sleeping with earplugs that they can't fall asleep without them anymore. But other than them, nobody's all too bothered anymore. Besides, since we now live in between the two sides, it's hard for anyone to complain anymore, it's not like they can kick us out _again..._ How about you and Eileen? Still keeping it a secret?”

“Oh, no, that ship has sailed.”, Teresa said, which led to Eileen snorting.

“Yeah, together with _Dwight and Raphael –_ they _had_ to fall in love and make our lives even more difficult. D'you have any idea how hard it is to be on the same team as a twenty-year-old that continuously tries to go to the enemy side of the battlefield hoping to get just one kiss from his lover? I keep having to fry anything coming their way when they're not paying attention – _men in love,_ bloody _useless_.”

“You're telling me – Gabriel always gets in trouble on the battlefield with his team's engie, Grant, who still believes we were better off when we didn't share living quarters...” But then, she looked at the two men behind them that stood with their backs turned to each other, looking as sour as they could be, and nudged her head at them. “...So, anyway, who are Grumpy and Sour?”

“Ah, those are _our_ colleagues, they serve in Teufort and they're still new to all this 'we're actually getting paid by the same company' _mierda_... And they're definitely not happy about having had to share a train here. The RED one is called Ja-”, Teresa started to explain, only to get interrupted by Gabriel's loud exclamation.

“Jarrod, mon ami!”

“Gabriel, amigo, good to see ya!”, the man in the red shirt said, walking up to Gabriel and hugging him readily, grinning just as broadly as the taller man. “Still as loco as they come, cabrón?”

“Plus fou, shithead. An' you, still gettin' along well with those snipers of yours? Heard you got _two_ now-”

“Double the fun, double the trouble.”, Jarrod admitted with a broad grin before looking at Sam in surprise. “...An' you are?”

“Oh, yeah, where are my manners?”, Gabriel said with a broad grin, pulling Sam against him slowly. “Jarrod, this is Samantha Tennant, my colleague on the BLU side of my battlefield – and 'fore you get ideas, _elle est la mienne_ -”

“Oh, Gabriel, thought ya knew how to _share_ -”, Jarrod said – Eileen gave Teresa and Sam a look before hitting both men on the backside of their heads again, causing them to glare at her and Sam to laugh. “Mierda!”, Jarrod cursed, rubbing the painful spot on his skull, while Gabriel muttered insults and profanities under his breath, which left Sam to finish his introduction.

“...So yes, I'm Gabriel's girlfriend. Six months, give or take – we kind of made time fly, funny how that happens when you're having fun. Gabriel, mon amour, you could've mentioned that you knew one of them.”

“Désolé, mon ange...”, Gabriel said apologetically, kissing her on the top of her head before blowing a kiss to Jarrod. “Besides, I don't actually _know_ him, I just-”

“Oh Christ, please don't finish that sentence, I think I can guess.”, Teresa interrupted, causing Gabriel to blush modestly, Jarrod to grin broadly, and Sam to shake her head with a soft but clearly forgiving smile.

“...I see. One of many. Luckily for Ail' and the rest of us, your wildest days are long gone.” Gabriel eagerly nodded, which allowed Sam to turn to Jarrod. “And your name is...?”, she asked, allowing her voice to trail off so he could fill in the blank, which he did with a broad grin that made the burnt side of his face wrinkle.

“Jarrod Dangerfeld, at your service, amiga – servin' the company in the middle of nowhere. Glad to meet the chica that got Gabriel tied down – never thought it'd ever happen. An' with a _classy_ chica, no less! ...So, amiga, are you as loca as he is?”

“Oh, I aspire to achieve his level of insanity but all I manage is-”

“Look, would you bloody _move_ , Dangerfeld?! It's bad enough I have to stand here listening to you-”, the man's BLU colleague interrupted, causing Jarrod to glare at him and Eileen to roll her eyes.

“Oh yes, and this is James Handerson. He is Jarrod's BLU counterpart, and he's a lot... more professional. He wants to kill Jarrod if he gets the chance to get away with it, but so far he's managed to contain himself, unfortunately.”

“Sinéad here's right-”

“Éist suas, leathcheann! How many goddamn times, my name is _Eileen_ , piece of British _shite_!”, Eileen instantly reacted, and Teresa glared at the male BLU pyro before pulling her girlfriend closer for a quick whispered word or two that had Eileen calm again. Fortunately for everyone, Sam stepped forward, clearly wanting to spare her other colleague more confrontations.

“Mister Handerson, a pleasure to meet you. Samantha Tennant, your colleague from another dustbowl.”, Sam said, and instantly James' spite seemed to vanish in favor of a somewhat dour mood that seemed to be almost happy compared to the way he'd been before.

“...Oh, you're from Sussex?”

“Born, raised, and nearly incinerated, yes. Since none of my ever-so-charming colleagues seems to feel like introducing you further, I'll just assume that they did and that they said you're every bit as pleasant as they are.” Ignoring Jarrod's wide-eyed look of surprise and Gabriel's somewhat understandable jealous glances, she gave the other pyro a soft smile that had his frown diminish for a second or two.

“...Hmph, yeah, let's assume. ...So, miss Tennant-”

“Call me Sam – I don't like being referred to by last name only, mister Handerson.”

“James.”, he offered, extending his hand for her to shake, which she did with little reservations. “...So, _Sam_ , it's nice to meet a pyro from BLU that doesn't seem either crazy or a complete idiot.”

“Well, most pyros are... pyromaniacs...”, Sam admitted, quickly adding when all four of the others meant to speak up: “...Which is fine, they're all good at their job regardless of whether they _like_ lighting fires. But it's very nice to meet someone that approaches the job as competitively as you do.”

“...Yeah, this pendejo isn't fire-crazy, just crazy, amiga... psychopath... just warnin' you...”, Jarrod muttered next to Sam – James seemed to want to flare up again but Sam smiled soothingly at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“...Are you a pyrotechnician too?”, she asked, and James shook his head.

“No, just... have previous experience working with fire.”, he said evasively before quickly asking further, stopping Sam from asking what he meant: “Sam, do you know what this 'evaluation day' is supposed to be? I mean, I hardly had to do an interview when I got the job...”, he asked, causing Sam to shrug and look at the others, who looked just as confused as she did, before answering James' question.

“Not a clue. Your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid – or it'll be even better, you seem like you've served longer than any of us, save perhaps Gabriel. He's been with the company nearly ten years.”

“Ten bloody years?!”, James said loudly, causing a few heads to turn their direction – the pyro muttered a few curses before calming down enough to speak in a hushed but urgent tone: “ _Ten years?_ Without going absolutely bonkers?”

“Oh, Gabriel came pre-equipped with crazy – he's a convicted arsonist that's serving out his sentence with RED-”, Sam said, and Gabriel spoke up loud enough for the entire group to hear.

“Yeah, so before ya get any ideas about _my_ Sammy, _James_ , think'a that.” The BLU pyro snorted when looking the giant RED pyro over, though he wasn't quick enough to hide his unease from Sam, who shook her head with a soft, amused smile.

“...Uh, anyway, Eileen, shouldn't we be heading out to the company HQ – you, me, and James, I mean? And Reese, shouldn't you chauffeur Gabriel and Jarrod to the RED headquarters across town?” Teresa's calm nod was a far cry from Eileen's semi-panicky groan.

“Shite, yes, we should head out. Teresa, please, _please_ keep those two out of trouble and try and get them to be civilized-”

“Pfyeah, like to see anyone manage that...”, Gabriel said, though he blanched when Teresa gave him a death glare; Jarrod had the common sense to quickly mold his grin into a neutral expression before the Mexican pyro could turn to him. “Sam, mon amour, see ya again tonight at our room. Eileen-”

“Don't bloody say it, Dantan!”, the BLU pyro said, though she did catch him nudge his head at Sam, which she answered with the minutest nod. It wasn't hard to miss how jealously the Canadian regarded how Sam and James talked to each other, and no matter how much she disliked every dirty, cocky cell of his six-foot-two person, she did like the way Sam had tamed him somewhat and he did make her colleague happy. “Sam, James, c'mon, if we're late we may as well start looking for another job – or a coffin.”

 

“...So, did any more crazy-ass things, amigo?”, Jarrod asked as he leaned back in the passenger seat next to Teresa; Gabriel shrugged.

“Well, uh, last time I saw ya was last year, right? ...Heh, since then I met Sammy, slept with her practically every night for the past six months... elle est comme une drogue, j'le jure... and she just makes me itch for her as easily as she breathes, man... j'ai pas de défense contre elle – not that I fuckin' want that. ...As for crazy shit – well, there was that time me an' her got caught by Will an' Archie, our teams' scouts...” Teresa groaned, but Jarrod whistled.

“Ouch...”

“Oh, no, _they joined in_ , man!”, Gabriel said with a broad grin, provoking a louder groan from Teresa and a sudden avid look from the Chilean pyro.

“No... you an' Sam... an' Billy _and the scout from BLU?!_ That's... how'd you even manage that?!”

“Oh, easy-”, Gabriel started, only to get interrupted by Teresa.

“Madre Dio, spare me the details. Jarrod, usted debe saber mejor, no animarlo, es bastante malo tuviera que escuchar sus desventuras en el camino hasta aquí. Gabriel, _behave_.”

“I'm behaving, I'm behaving, jeez... quoi, t'es ma mère maintenant?”, the fair-haired pyro said, crossing his arms – Jarrod sighed but perked up considerably when his friend mouthed 'tell you after'. “...And you?”, Gabriel asked, provoking another, albeit softer, groan from Teresa and a chuckle from Jarrod.

“...Nothing like you, amigo. All the fun I have is on the battlefield. I torched the BLU spy couple of times – pendejo thinks it's _funny_ trying to drown me, thinks it's _funny_ to force a hydrophobe underwater. ...Oh, I am swingin' my Axtinguisher right into his cojones next battle!”

“If he even _has_ any. Those BLU salauds sont que des châtrés, j'le jure.”, Gabriel said, his eyes narrowed – Teresa instantly knew that the taller of the two men was thinking about the way James had instantly taken a liking to Sam and vice versa, but Jarrod was oblivious as always.

“...Si, amigo. Well, let me tell you, it was _hell_ coming back from respawn butt naked an' soaking wet... Eric couldn't stop laughing though. Said 'oughta cool yer ardor, son'-”

“They _still_ didn't upgrade your respawn?”, Gabriel asked, nonplussed, looking at Teresa with a grin. “...Yeah, they still got the Mark III system, that don't restore clothes.”

“Apuesto a que es un espectáculo, Jarrod, ver su trasero desnudo.”, the female pyro said, grinning broadly as Jarrod answered her flawlessly in their mother tongue.

“Demasiado caliente para ti, preciosa. Sus ojos se quemarían.” He then turned to Gabriel and winked at his friend as he added: “Now _Gabriel's_ ass, _that_ you could take. Blanco como la nieve, las piernas flacas, pero no cicatrices a la vista.”

“Tais-toi, comme si tes fesses sont mieux - toutes couvertes de cicatrices de brûlures et des contusions.”

“ _Guys,_ seriously, I don't have any need to see either of your behinds-”, Teresa said weakly, but the men were on a roll, insulting each other's bodies until somehow, the topic returned to James. Jarrod eagerly abused his BLU counterpart, with Gabriel eagerly joining in.

“...Pendejo is _good_ at his job. Truth be told, I dunno if he's a pyro like you an' me, amigo, or a pyro like your Sam-”

“Oh merde, did ya see the way he _looked_ at her? Fuckin' pathetic!”

“...I don't know...”, Teresa said teasingly, looking over her shoulder as she pulled into the RED HQ parking lot, “...he looked at Sam exactly like _you_ look at Sam-”

“Teresa, no...”, Jarrod muttered – the reason for his sudden meekness became clear when Gabriel gritted his teeth and glared out the window.

“J'le tue, le salaud, personne ne regarde Sammy comme ça que moi, et moi seul. J'te jure, Jarrod, il est _mort_.”

“Oh, you're hearing no complaints from me, amigo. The cabrón deserves to be _tortured_.”

“Look, you two, we're _here_ , and we're here for _evaluation –_ so could you please stop talking murder, torture and la jodienda until after we're through here?”, Teresa said loudly, causing both man to glare at first but then, seemingly, they remembered the purpose of their trip and they huffed, straightening themselves again. Gabriel clenched and unclenched his fists for a few seconds before speaking up again.

“First we go in there and _blow 'em the fuck away_ , then we talk about how we're gonna kill ce salaud putain, Jarrod, t'es d'accord?”

“Si, amigo – that's a good plan. Teresa, estás de acuerdo?” The female pyro sighed and rolled her eyes.

“If you manage not to stuff it up, you two, I'll be on board with whatever plan you conceive as long as it doesn't contain actual murder – out of the three of you, I'm the only one with a-”

“No, outta the three of us, _Jarrod_ is the only one that's got a clean track record.”, Gabriel figured out what she meant to say and corrected her even as he interrupted her. “Mais bien, donc, on y va?”

“Yes, vamonos.”, Teresa said, wondering faintly that she perhaps had to consider transferring to BLU. It certainly looked like Eileen had a more easy time with her two colleagues now that she had to keep Gabriel and Jarrod from containing not only their lewdness and coarseness, but also their jealousy and disdain for their new mutual enemy.

 

Meanwhile, Eileen was reaching her boiling point.

“I still think _I_ should've driven-”

“Why, because you think _you_ can somehow drive us through the city any _faster_? You've never been here-”, she ground out, only for the man to interrupt her.

“Neither have you!”

“Guys, _please_ , try not to murder each other before the evaluations – and try not to after, either, I don't know about BLU but at RED they're pretty intense about in-team fights.”, Sam said soothingly from next to Eileen, and both others backed down a little, though James looked twice as sour as he had looked on the platform. Seeing that, Sam decided to try and make small talk with him again. “...So, James, you said before that you've got experience with fire?”

“Yeah, I... don't like talking about the past, it's best left where it is.”

“You don't have to be _afraid_ , I mean, we're all colleagues and firestarters here. N-not... you know, not _pyromaniacs_ , but we do have a job regularly lighting nine people on fire – or at least eight, never get a lot of luck with our charming RED colleagues.”

“Yeah, speak for yourself, I just tend to _avoid_ Teresa on the battlefield, it doesn't matter anyway, not like we can toast each other. Plus she's _effective_ with _all_ of her weapons... it's horrible...”, Eileen said, a hint of pride at her girlfriend's prowess entering her voice, and James shook his head.

“...I got Jarrod good once. He still has the scars for it.”

“You what?”, Eileen said, nearly missing a turn as she glared at the man in the back seat – as the Irish woman cursed and took heed of the traffic again, Sam queried James further.

“How do you mean?”

“...Well, our respawn's an older model, we still respawn starkers for one-”

“Oh, thank _God_ we have the upgraded version then, eh, Eileen? Some of the men on my team wouldn't be able to do battle at all if I kept turning up in respawn nude. Our sniper, Theodore... _Ugh_ , I'm so not thinking about him right now. ...But, uh, continue.”

“...So our respawn's an older system, and it still works with floppy drives. Jarrod was hired after the previous RED pyro, Mason, got shot on the battlefield and didn't get picked up by respawn. So he joined battle and he offed me a couple of times... let me tell ya right now, I _hate_ Axtinguishers-”

“Oh, you've got every reason to hate them. I, for one, don't mind how many times Gabriel kills me with his, but it feels grim and personal every time though.”, Sam admitted, causing James to roll his eyes.

“...Anyway, it was hatred at first sight for me. Bloody fucker's _good_ with his Backburner and _uncannily effective_ with his Axtinguisher, 's like he was born for the damn job. ...But one day, a month after he arrived or so, he got in a tight spot and I got to him. And... well...”, he said, looking at Sam before clearly softening what he'd been about to say: “...let's just say revenge is a dish best served burning hot. Figured 'respawn's gonna pick him up and restore him anyway' so I... didn't mind decorum as much and I torched the effin' bastard, and then left him for dead. I figured the respawn system would pick him up – doesn't matter how bloody brutal you die, you always come back. But that soddin' RED bastard didn't die, didn't get picked up by the respawn because apparently, the Administrator had put a floppy disk in there that _blocked respawn for the pyro-_ ”

“Oh my god!”, Sam gasped, and Eileen looked mildly unsettled as well. “...Why would she-”

“I don't think it was meant to block respawn completely, but it did that and the company was too bloody cowardly to admit their mistakes. ...Anyway, the burns on the side of Jarrod's face and shoulder are a result of that – and the hatred's mutual since then. If he sees me in battle, he becomes bloody tenacious. Chopped my head half off once... left me to bleed out in the intel room. Lovely man, Jarrod Dangerfeld. Oh, and he's fire-crazy too, 'course.”

“Gabriel is, too, but he's in control ever since we've gotten together properly. ...Long story, wouldn't want to bore you...”, she said when James looked at her in surprise, and Eileen snorted.

“Yeah, Sam, why don't you keep it short and sweet and say what made you and Gabriel finally name your relationship a proper relationship?” The youngest of the BLU pyros blushed modestly but spoke up anyway.

“...Well, we were just friends that slept together at first-”

“Even if you two slept together nightly at that point already...”, Eileen interjected, and Sam shushed her urgently, her blush deepening, before continuing.

“-and then, suddenly, our teams decided to bar us from seeing each other during the week because they thought our affair was having a negative impact on our performances. ...So we did what every other self-respecting couple would do and we started to sneak around. One night, during the weekend when we _were_ allowed to spend our nights together, we were in the middle of some very intense fun in one of the disused respawn rooms on base when we suddenly get company. Our two teams' drunk scouts, both bloody _off their faces_ drunk. And... well, let's just say that got interesting fast.” James stared at her with open mouth, and Eileen looked like she supposed her mother would've looked, a frown on her features and her hands clenched around the steering wheel just a little more tightly. “...Anyway, that's when Gabriel and I had a talk and we decided that we didn't want anyone thinking they could come between us simply because we didn't commit. We told our teams we were serious about each other, I told my eldest brother, he told his father and sister as soon as he got in contact with them again... and we got kicked out of our team's living quarters when we confessed that we had been seeing each other secretly, two weeks later, but we made our new living quarters in an off-limits area in between the two sides. Soundproofed the room and all – well, that was a necessity, you should've heard Dell and Grant complain about us keeping them awake at night. Bloody irritating – I swear...” She looked at James and smiled his way. “...But, well, we should probably focus on this interview now. Even though we have no idea what this is gonna be about.”

“...Hard to prepare for something you don't have the faintest about.”, Eileen said, ignoring James' snort. “...Reese said it'd probably be job satisfaction inquiries and battle tests, or maybe questions about flamethrowers since the company's got pretty shoddy standard equipment – I mean, we all use our own Backburners because the standard flamethrower doesn't cut it most of the times-”

“Doesn't Reese use a Degreaser, though?”, Sam asked, and Eileen rolled her eyes.

“No, she switched about three months ago, when Dwight and Raphael started becoming a little too eager and she used that Degreaser of hers to knock our soldier, Gordon, out one night. Dwight built her Backburner. The man is a _genius_ if you believe her-”

“Dwight?”

“The RED engineer and Teresa's best friend on her team – he's Sam's age, I think, and he's in a relationship with my team's scout, Raphael. I swear, they took _one look_ at each other and they fell as hard as men could fall. ...Oh, look, here we go, BLU headquarters – and there's a parking spot right next to the entrance, it's amazing!”, she said, quickly driving into the vacant spot and switching off the engine of the car. “...I don't have to tell you to be fuckin' professional, now, do I?”

“Pfeh.”, James snorted – he probably meant to add another insult to Eileen, but Sam cut him off.

“You know we're all professional here, Ail'. Now, let's go make an impression.”

“Yeah, and hope that over at RED, our dear colleagues are doing the same...”

 


	2. James Handerson must die (or get scared off effectively)

“...Well, that wasn't what I expected at all...”, Sam admitted, causing James and Eileen to blink and look at her. “...Didn't you get questions about pyromania then? I got _fifteen!_ ”, she asked, and James sighed.

“...I got asked about pyromania, yeah, and how I'd deal with an urge like that. But that was just the one question.”

“It must be because of your relationship with Gabriel, Sam. I got just the one question too. All the rest were questions about my ties with the rest of the team. I thought the Administrator would die when I explained that I don't have a sexual relationship or a romantic relationship with my team's spy, Jean-Marie, because _I'm lesbian_.” Looking James, who had snorted, over somewhat angrily, she added: “Sorry to disappoint you, Handerson, but if there's one Brit I'd ever sleep with, it'd be Sam and not you. And I'd only sleep with Sam if Hell froze over, Teresa keeps me happy and satisfied.”

“Oh, what _is it_ with you two and inter-team relationships?!”, their male colleague groaned, and Sam snorted.

“...Well, you should give it a try, James, I'm sure Jarrod would be more than willing to give it a go with you-”

“Pfyeah, screw him before he kills him, or what?”, Eileen said dismissively, and Sam chuckled.

“...Yeah, maybe not that good an idea after all. ...But we don't choose who we fall in love with, James – I mean, take me and Gabriel for instance. Gabriel wasn't interested in women until he met me, he even had a relationship with his own team's scout that he _broke off_ for 'pursuing' me; and I'd just had the suicide of my brother and my own recovery before I met him, so I wasn't looking at all. And still... here we are, eight months later, living together and completely devoted to each other. I think it was the same for Eileen and Reese – they met on their way over to their jobs, they kept talking, they fell in love. It happens out here all the time.”

“Yes, but you work for different teams. I don't get how that doesn't bother you in the least.”, James said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, prompting Sam to nod.

“Eileen already said that you and Jarrod are relatively _new_ to the entire 'we're supposedly rivals but the companies we're working for aren't actually competitors anymore' thing. Well, the four of _us_ already know for a while now, so that's probably why we're not the least bit bothered.” James looked like he meant to protest, but then he sighed again and shrugged, clearly deciding to drop the subject.

“...Well, it's not like there's a lot of opportunities for us to find someone interesting, anyway – Teufort is almost deserted, the town's tiny and it's miles from where we're stationed. Half an hour's drive for getting supplies.”

“Ah well, you could be worse off – Teresa and Eileen are stationed in the middle of the desert, no towns around for _miles_. It's half a day's walk to the train station where their supplies arrive – a two hour drive, that means. And sometimes their supply trains are late. Gabriel and I don't have that problem, our base is just five miles from a town, about twenty miles from a mid-sized city... plenty of opportunities for the guys from our base to get themselves some fun in the weekends.”

“Yeah, _our_ fun is our television and our fighting.”, Eileen admitted, causing James to sigh as he settled into the back seat of the car.

“Okay, so what now? It's still a little early to go to the hotel where they put us up-”

“...Well, I don't know about you girls, but it's been ages since I last spent any time away from my base. So maybe we could have a drink?”, James suggested, and Eileen grinned.

“Now you're talking. I agree with you there, James – Sam, are you on board or d'you need us to drop you off at the hotel?”

“Well-”, Sam started, intending to remind Eileen that she'd promised Gabriel that she'd see him again at the hotel as soon as she could, but James shook his head softly and spoke up almost pleadingly.

“Oh, come on, Sam, you deserve a drink just as much as we do – doesn't matter that you have more chances to go offsite than we do, you did just as well as we did on the interviews! Besides, your tall one can surely miss you for a little bit longer... it's not like he'll _die_ without ya, is it?” Sam sighed and relented, oblivious to the somewhat eager look that crossed her BLU colleague's face when she did so.

“Okay, then. Just a few drinks, mind – if I get sloshed now, Gabriel's going to murder me. Especially because he doesn't much like you, James, for having been able to spend the afternoon with me while he had to go to _his_ evaluation.”

“Doesn't bloody matter – Jarrod's with him, that ought to keep him occupied.”

“Hey!”, Sam said, turning to face her male colleague with a look that clearly showed she didn't appreciate his insinuation. “Gabriel's got more self-control than that! It's not because he's had Jarrod once and I'm not in his room when he gets there that he'll automatically sleep with Jarrod bloody Dangerfeld!”

“I didn't say that, Sam, I just meant they get along great and Jarrod's probably going to want to have a few drinks with him as well!”, the man quickly corrected himself, causing Sam to snort and roll her eyes.

“Yeah, sure, that's what you meant. ...Oh well, do you mind if I let Gabriel know where we are, Ail'?”

“Not at all, but please ask him to leave Dangerfeld in the hotel?”, Eileen said, looking around for a parking spot in the city center. “...It's bad enough that I've had to tag along with _Handerson_ all day-”

“Likewise, Sinéad-”, James said, and Sam groaned.

“Look, you two, if we're going out to have a drink, then you can act civilized to each other or I'm going to Gabriel anyway – I'm giving up valuable time away from our nosy teams for this, so it'd better be _enjoyable_ going out with the two of you instead of spending my time with the man I love.”

“Okay, okay, but if the _British piece of shite_ can't keep his mouth shut-”

“Speak for yourself, _IRA bitch_ -”

“That's it! Don't bother, I'll just go back to the hotel and spend my evening with _Gabriel_ -”, Sam interrupted their argument, and instantly the two others hurried to apologize for their actions. “...You two promise to behave around each other? Eileen, no more calling him out because he's English, you're managing to insult _me_ in the same breath each time. James, no more calling _her_ out because she's _Irish_ , she may not be a pyromaniac but she's been starting fires since age seven and I'd hate to see you get a set of scars to match Jarrod's.”

“Fine.”, Eileen said with a sigh and a somewhat less murderous glare at James, who reciprocated in kind.

“ _Fine_. Now can we please go and have that drink before I start to think it's a better idea for me to go back to my hotel room?”

“Sure – Eileen, lead the way!”, Sam said, just as the Irish woman switched off the car's engine, prompting a somewhat alarming grin out of her.

“Oh, of course! ... _James_ , what kind of drinks do you prefer? Lager? Cocktails? Whisky?”, she asked airily, her tone level and her eyes off her male colleague all the time; James responded similarly, looking at the ground as he got out of the car.

“I'd prefer lager but if Sam and you want hard liquor or cocktails, I'm not going to argue.”

“Sam?”, Eileen asked, her tone infinitely warmer and a smile firmly in place.

“Well, I don't much like beer, so cocktails it is! I think I still know a place from that New Year's reception thing... but let me text Gabriel quickly so he won't worry...”

“Yeah, I should text Teresa as well, let her know to expect trouble in the near future...”, Eileen muttered, taking out her cellphone and typing a quick message to her girlfriend, while Sam did the same to Gabriel. James tried to look over her shoulder, only managing when she'd typed the entire message and blushing softly.

“...Did you just promise him-”, he started, only for Sam to loudly protest.

“I didn't go looking over your shoulder, James! And what I promised my _partner_ is none of your business! Now come on, follow me.” The male pyro looked at Sam's retreating back intently, only looking away when he felt a very ungentle nudge in his ribs: turning, he saw Eileen give him an exasperated look.

“...The way you're looking at her, Handerson, you're well on your way to a lot of disappointment and a potentially bloody death. She's _devoted to him_. No matter how much liquor you intend to pour into her – oh, believe me, others _did_ try before you and they found that she could outmatch every one of them. Gabriel is the only one that can outdo her in drinking. And even then, no matter how inebriated you get her, she'll never allow anyone but Gabriel to even lay a _finger_ on her.”

“Oh, what do you even know, Sinéad?”, James hissed back, walking quickly on to join Sam and strike up another conversation with her, and Eileen groaned as she quickly sent another text to Teresa. No matter how much she _hated_ Gabriel Dantan, who was dirty beyond any measure, he still deserved to know what James Handerson was trying to do.

 

“Oh man, that was excellent!”, Gabriel said loudly as the three RED pyros walked back to their car – Jarrod nodded, grinning just as broadly. “Did ya see their _faces_ when I told 'em how many kills I got with my Axtinguisher? How many times I _airblasted_ the BLU spy right into a rocket or a sentry's range?”

“Amigo, if you thought _that_ was a feat, when ya told them _you made Samantha's Backburner_! I thought they'd keel over dead! ...Ahh, man, that was loco. ...Teresa?”, he suddenly asked, noticing her slight frown.

“...Miss Pauling asked me about my past. Again. I don't like being reminded of what happened.”

“Aw, Reese, ma chère amie, t'es plus fort que ton passé... You, of all people, oughta know that! You _said no to-_ ”

“Shhh, you crazy?!”, Jarrod hushed Gabriel, and for the longest time the three felt bad – but then the Chilean pyro chuckled softly and pulled Gabriel's head down into the crook of his arm, running his knuckles through the already unruly blond hair of his friend. “...You gotta learn to keep that big mouth of yours shut, cabrón, one day you're goin' to get in trouble and not even Sam's gonna be able to fish you out anymore. ...I heard the questions you got about _her_ , amigo – interesting answers.” Gabriel grinned and answered in the same serious tone he'd used in the interviews, only his words were a lot more crude.

“Yeah, I have given up fuckin' Billy in favor of doin' Sam. Yeah, I do keep us both up all night at least three times a week. No, no matter how fuckin' eager we are quand on fait l'amour, it's never interfered with my goddamn battle performance. It's the other damn way around. An' yeah, j'suis joyeux avec mon boulout – not only is it a pyromaniac's dream, it also allows me to bang my girlfriend whenever the fuck I wanna. All silver linings, no damn clouds. ...Ah well, you say 'interestin'', I say 'honest and open'.”

“You're lucky they didn't fire you on the spot, Gabriel.”, Teresa said meekly, and Jarrod rolled his eyes.

“They've kept him goin' for ten years, why would they wanna get rid of him now? They _know_ how he is, and they _know_ how I am, and how you are – you're just worried, amiga, that they think we're somehow spoiling your pure an' sweet character.” Teresa snorted.

“Pure and sweet, yes, _that_ must be why they asked me if I still had nightmares about my family and about the Siete. I was glad when they moved on to Gabriel, at least I can take his dirty stories. ...Oh, well, do you two want to grab a drink? It's still early-”

“Well, that sounds like a nice idea.”, Jarrod said, finally letting go of Gabriel but keeping his arm around his shoulders. “...Hey, do you think your chicas are done with their interviews yet?” As if the three BLU pyros sensed the question, Teresa's cellphone bleeped, followed by Gabriel's.

“Oh, they're done, and they're going for a drink too, but Ailie doesn't know where.”, Teresa said, smiling at Gabriel and Jarrod, and the tallest of the three grinned back faintly.

“I know where they're going, Sam mentioned the bar where we headed after the New Year's reception. But _merde_ , she mentions that James is going along – doesn't that fuckin' asshole have a hotel room he needs to go to?!”, he added, gritting his teeth and squeezing his hands into fists again. “Je le jure, if he so much as _touches_ her, he's a dead man walking-”

“Gabriel, amigo, te calma...”, Teresa said, and Jarrod eagerly nodded, patting his friend on the shoulder.

“Your Sam's perfect, amigo, why would she even _want_ that _cabrón_ James when she's got you? You trust her, don't ya?”

“Yeah, I trust her... but I don't fuckin' trust _him_. I mean, she's got a golden heart, that _salaud foiré_ could _take advantage of her kindness_ an' by the time she's aware she should say no-”

“Gabriel, Sam isn't like that at all, she's a good judge of character-”, Teresa said, and Gabriel nodded though he still looked thorougly put off by the mere thought of Sam spending her evening in the presence of another man, let alone another man that had expressed his interest in her very explicitly like James had. Then, however, Teresa's cellphone bleeped again and the female RED pyro looked, paling a little. “Oh, mierda, mierda...”

“What's up, amiga?”, Jarrod asked, sounding surprised, and Teresa instantly switched to her mother tongue.

“No te puedo decir, usted sólo dice Gabriel y él se convertiría lívido...”

“Bueno, mierda, si se trata de James, que ya es jodidamente enojado, así que no veo cómo se había vuelto aún más-”, Jarrod started, only for Teresa to sigh and quickly explain.

“Eileen dijo que James podría tratar de llegar Sam ebrio para que ella... no sé, pero sólo puedo suponer que quiere que ella se olvidara de Gabriel y vaya a _su_ cuarto de hotel en vez.” Jarrod groaned, which unfortunately got Gabriel to focus on their conversation again.

“Quoi? ...What's going on, why are you two lookin' at that cellphone as if...” Teresa tried to hide the text message from the tall pyro, but it was about as effective as trying to hold water in open hands: Gabriel read the text message and then, understandably, exploded in a rapid, heated string of French swearwords and threats. “ _Ce foutu fils de garce sale!_ J'vais le _tuer_ pour essayer de séduire ma copine, nom de Dieu, le tuer lentement et douloureusement, et j'me soucie pas si le monde entier le sait! Personne d'autre que _moi_ touche ma Sam! Ce putain de salopard, s'il a des couilles, j'vais les _déchirer_!”

“Calm, Gabriel!”, Teresa said helplessly, but to no avail. Gabriel was _beyond_ livid, and with good reason – and next to him, Jarrod was eagerly winding him up – or, Teresa quickly corrected, eagerly molding his anger from explosive to _cruel and focused_.

“Amigo, we can't let him do this... we'll need to find a way to _humiliate_ him, you know, asegurarse de que él nunca va a pensar en Sam de esa manera otra vez... Make sure that pendejo's gonna _never want to screw around with your chica again_ , amigo...”

“Bien, semble logique. Mais comment? Jarrod, you know ce salopard... how can we make sure he'll never...”

“Oh, believe me, I think I know a way or two... Teresa, will you help out a little?”, he said, and the female pyro groaned.

“Siempre y cuando no me pides que matar a nadie ni que darle drogas-”

“Estamos enfadados, no estúpidos, hermosa. ...All you'll have to do is sweet-talk the hotel receptionist into giving us James' room key. Gabriel, how good d'you think you can imitate James' voice?” As he laid out his plans, Gabriel slowly started grinning more and more broadly, and Teresa started to feel more and more uncomfortable. Then again, she mused as she drove off to the places that Jarrod pointed out, if anyone threatened to get with Eileen by getting her drunk, let alone anyone that went out of their way to be unlikeable, she'd be just as brutal and vindictive as her two fellow pyros.

 

“Buenas noches, amigos...” Eileen looked up at the sound of her girlfriend's voice, getting up to give her a kiss that had James snort and Sam grin.

“Good evening to you too, lasair... Uh, are Dirty and Dirtier in the hotel?”

“...Well, uh-”, Teresa started, only to be interrupted by Sam.

“Did Gabriel and Jarrod go to the hotel already?”

“See? Told you, sweetums, your boyfriend and Jarrod bloody Dangerfeld are keepin' themselves happily entertained together!”, James said loudly, sounding drunk and prompting Sam to shake her head.

“No, Gabriel's got more self-control than that, and he wouldn't cheat on me.”

“Yeah, _sure_ , that's why he's in his hotel room. Probably bangin' the latino arsehole as we speak – literally.”, James said, and Sam just gave him an angry look and an equally angry sigh as she downed the remnants of her cocktail in one and motioned for another one. Eileen, meanwhile, groaned and turned to Teresa, speaking hushedly so that the other two pyros wouldn't overhear.

“...Please tell me they're _not_ sleeping together, otherwise Sam would have _zero_ reasons not to go home with James fuckin' Handerson – the piece of Brit shite is bloody tenacious, trying to get her drunk enough to give up her inhibitions. He's constantly ordering the same as she is, and then switching their cocktails so she gets drunk twice as fast... and she's already at the point where she doesn't notice him doing it anymore...”

“Jarrod and Gabriel are in my car, and I hope to God that they _aren't_ thinking about la jodienda, that'd ruin the upholstery. ...They... they want me to put this in James' drink...”, she said, holding out an ampoule with a clear liquid that Eileen instantly recognized. She'd put it in Lance's morning porridge a couple of times back when he and Dwight had had their feud going, to make sure the engineer would do exactly as she said for the duration of battle. It would make James docile and compliant, erasing any and all resistance while still keeping him mostly awake and aware. To anyone looking in, he would appear to be drunk to the point of stupor.

“...They read that message, didn't they?”, Eileen asked, and Teresa nodded.

“Yes, and they've planned an elaborate but, uh, _interesting_ revenge on mister 'Charming-my-way-into-someone-else's-girlfriend's-bed'...” Quickly, she explained to Eileen – and the more the BLU pyro heard, the more she had to admit that Gabriel and Jarrod, when they put their minds to it, could be ingenious and unforgiving.

“...Scrios Dé... Remind me never to get on Dantan's bad side, or Dangerfeld's for that matter... Okay, so you'll need a little help, yeah? ...Leave it to me, lasair...”, Eileen said. She found the prospect of the plan the two RED pyros had laid out somewhat amusing, though she'd never admit it to the men since their already insufferable characters would go to new degrees of unbearable in a heartbeat. Turning to James and Sam, she smiled her most winning smile and motioned for Teresa. “Teresa just told me that their evaluation talks went great as well – Jarrod and Gabriel are celebrating-”

“See?”, James started again, and Eileen found the prospect of what would happen to him almost stop her from nudging him hard in the ribs with her elbow, though the satisfaction of causing the male BLU pyro to glare at her won out anyway.

“Handerson, get your mind _out_ of the gutter – never thought I had to say that to anyone other than Dantan or Dangerfeld... Jarrod and Gabriel are in an arcade a street over, loudly annoying the rest of the world and sloshing vanilla gin over everything inside of them. They've asked Sam to join them-”

“Oh, sure!”, Sam said, getting up from the barstool with a broad smile – James' expression was similar to someone that had to swallow a whole lime slice for a split second before he turned to Sam again, his voice pleading and his eyes carefully hiding any and all disappointment at her continued resistance to his 'charms'.

“Surely you and him will have plenty of time tonight, and I only get to see you right now... one more drink before you go?” Sam looked like she wanted to protest, but Teresa spoke up next.

“Ah, Sam, I think James is right, one more drink can't harm Gabriel and Jarrod, give them time to get all of the nerves out of their system... I think some lime vodka shots might do the trick, don't you agree, Ail'?”, she asked with a nod, prompting the Irishwoman to grin broadly.

“Oh, yes, they'll do great. 'Scuse me, sir?”, she said, motioning for the bartender and then for herself and her three friends. “Twelve vodka lime shots. Oh, and, uh...”, she added in a whisper as she motioned for James, who was already engrossed in a conversation about arcade games with Sam and paid no more attention to her or Teresa, “...my guy friend over there, he's, uh... might not want to fill his glasses _all the way..._ we'll need to half-carry him home as it is...” For a second, the bartender looked sceptical, but then James laughed faux-drunkenly and put his arm around Sam as if to steady himself and he nodded. The glasses arrived – James' were only half-filled, but the clear liquid from the ampoule was added easily and Eileen had already put the empty container back in her pocket when Sam and James turned to the bar as well, seeing the liquor had arrived. “...Okay, everyone...”, she said, pushing the glasses around, taking care to give James his first, “...to what'll we drink?”

“I know!”, Sam said with a somewhat too broad grin, raising her first glass, an example which the rest followed, “To a good evaluation! May RED and BLU never get tired of us all!” She downed her shot in one, and James followed her example with little to no hesitation. He was also the next one to raise his following shotglass, clearly intending to get Sam to drink hers as quickly as possible to make sure the alcohol would inhibit her further as quickly as possible.

“I've got another toast for you: to us all – even bloody Dangerfeld and that lucky toss-up Dantan... here's to hoping that we'll always burn 'em to a crisp and kill 'em stone dead.”

“Quick and merciful, or messy and satisfying.”, Eileen agreed, grinning broadly when James downed his second shot just as greedily as his first one, raising her last glass readily. The vodka burnt in her stomach, but the thought of getting James his just desserts for an entire afternoon of being a pain in the ass was more than enough to counterbalance another dose of that unpleasant sensation. “...Well, then, one final one: to the rest of our teams – our lovely engineers, our witty German doctors, our crazy soldiers, our little twitchy baseball players, our French-speaking charmers, our Australian bastard snipers-”

“Speak for yourself, Lyndon is perfectly civilized.”, Teresa said, prompting a snort from Eileen.

“Because Amaric has his hands on him.”

“...Gabriel's a French-speaking charmer...”, Sam added with a somewhat dreamy grin, and James rolled his eyes, downing his final shot before turning to the object of his desires, slurring a little less over-the-top.

“Gabriel's the luckiest bloke this side of the universe, Sam, how the man gets you to take his sleeping around in stride... what's he got that a man like me doesn't, I wonder?”

“Sam.”, Eileen reacted deadpan, causing the BLU pyro to narrow his eyes at her only to turn back to Sam when she pulled her coat off the back of her chair slowly, her movements a little more deliberate to betray she felt the effects of her previous drinks.

“...You guys, I'm going to find Jarrod and Gabriel, see if they'll accept-” Suddenly, however, the two RED pyros walked into the bar, instantly walking right for their table.

“Bonsoir, mon ange.”

“Uh, bonsoir, mon amour... pleasant surprise, Teresa was just telling us how you and Jarrod were at an arcade around the block...”, Sam said softly, though her smile grew to a grin when Gabriel snaked an arm around her waist. “...Oh, I'm not complaining, love, not at all, I _missed_ you-”

“And I missed you. ...T'as eu combien?”, he asked, nodding his head at the two empty glasses of vanilla gin and the shot glasses on the table, causing Sam to shrug.

“Oh, four glasses of vanilla gin, five tops...” Gabriel cast a look at Teresa, who mouthed 'eight or ten' silently, and then he aimed a glare at James, who barely responded – focusing his attention on Sam again, he heard the end of her statement: “...so then three more shots of lime vodka. I felt _those_ , though, so I'm about ready to call it a night before I end up being worthless tomorrow morning.”

“And tonight.”, Jarrod said, nudging Gabriel, who nodded, clearly not intent on hiding the fact that he had plans for the remainder of his evening, plans that most definitely included Sam. “...So, amigas, James, are you ready to call it a night?”

“Yes, please.”, Teresa said, rolling her eyes – Jarrod leaned closer and she whispered: “...está empezando a trabajar, él estará fuera de ella en unos pocos minutos...”

“Bueno.”, he ground out, glaring at the BLU pyro who barely even responded to the look anymore, his eyes staring blankly in front of him. It was that, of course, that Sam noticed.

“...James? Come on, you matched my drinks but surely you're not yet drunk-”

“The sorry pendejo has a poor tolerance for it, probably, amiga, he hasn't drunk for _years_. I can't speak for the BLU _pendejo's_ but all we from RED have at the base is Eric's sorry excuse for scotch – tastes so horrible nobody drinks it...”, Jarrod said, sounding mildly annoyed – he had to bite his tongue hard in order to not sound grimly satisfied, he mused – and Sam snorted.

“Yes, well, he _did_ mention he preferred _lager_... James, don't worry, we'll help you back to your hotel room.”

“Yeah, you don't mind if we help ya get settled in bed, don't ya, James?”, Gabriel asked, grinning broadly – not as vindictively as he wanted, of course, but managing somehow to make it look like he was just amused by the man's stupor – and James shrugged slowly, making Sam giggle softly.

“Oh my, he really is out of it! Poor bloke... his first night off base and he gets sloshed...” She meant to help her fellow BLU pyro get up out of his chair but Jarrod beat her to it: wrapping one arm around the blond pyro's shoulders, he hoisted him up , managing to make it look like James swayed somewhat.

“Wow, pendejo, you really let yourself _go_ , didn't you? That's what you get tryin' to outmatch _Gabriel's Sam_ – don't ya forget it.”, he said, and the BLU pyro nodded softly, still not speaking. “...Teresa'll drive me an' him over to the hotel – if it's okay with you, Eileen, to take Gabriel and his chica back with you?”, he added when the Irish pyro intended to loudly voice her objections, mollifying her instantly.

“...Well, it saves me the risk of having Handerson bloody hurl in my car... piece of British shite...”, she added with only slightly less venom than she'd spoken those words with before, and true to his drugged state he didn't respond. “...But, well, I suppose I can live with that. He'll not enjoy himself come morning, that much is for sure... Gabriel, Sam, in my car you two will _behave-”_ , she started, only for Sam to smile and nod.

“Like angels, until we're somewhere in the general vicinity of our room. Right, Gabriel, mon âme?”, she said, squeezing him against her and causing his answer to become all the more eagerly spoken.

“Naturellement, mon ange – I'm only misbehavin' when I've got your say-so.”

“And don't forget I'll _bloody kill the both of you_ if you so much as _kiss_ -”No sooner had she spoken the word than Sam and Gabriel kissed, eagerly and clearly passionately, causing Eileen to groan and Teresa to look at the two in mild amusement. Jarrod and James, however, both looked with clear longing at the sight of the couple as they parted slowly, looking a little more rosy-cheeked all of a sudden. “Did you get it all out of your system?”, Eileen asked with obvious annoyance, clearly not abiding any answer, since she cut across Gabriel as he meant to make a remark, most likely a lewd one judging by his lazy grin: “Okay, then, let's go before the two of you lose what scarce self-control you _have_ around each other. Reese, lasair, don't be too late – Jarrod, if you shite-for-brains get my girlfriend in trouble-”

“No worries, I wouldn't dare, Eileen, sólo voy a hacer seguro de que esto pendejo es _muy apenado_ por la mañana, nada más...”, Jarrod said, rolling his eyes at the woman before blowing a kiss at Gabriel and Sam. “A mañana, amigos – sorry we missed havin' a nice talk...”

“See you tomorrow, Eileen, Jarrod – and you too, James!”, Sam said – James, out of it as he was, didn't even blink as Jarrod pulled him outside, causing Sam to sigh. “...Poor James, I didn't even know he'd had so much to drink...”

“Don't worry about him...”, Eileen said, rolling her eyes. She meant to explain to Sam what had happened when suddenly, Jarrod seemed to let James slip and the BLU pyro fell face first onto the ground, barely reacting due to the drug.

“ _Mierda_ , I can't hold him up alone – Gabriel, amigo, looks like you'll need to come with, I can't ask _Teresa_ to hold this pendejo upright in the car-”

“Merde, he ain't even fuckin' _conscious_ and he's still takin' away my time with Sammy!”, Gabriel complained loudly – it was part of the plan, of course, but he didn't want to be the one that told Sam he had to go. Fortunately for him, it was his girlfriend herself that provided him with the excuse he needed.

“Gabriel, you go with them, I'll wait for you in our room. Just... don't be too late, okay?”

“You got it, mon ange.”, Gabriel said, grinning when he gave her a hug and she pulled his head a little closer to whisper an additional warning.

“And Jarrod and you had better _behave_ , or you'll be sleeping in the hallway.”

“J'te jure, je lui veux pas, j'ai _toi_ pour m'allumer, mon ange de feu...”, he whispered back, kissing her lightly over a fading lovebite he'd given her days before and causing her hand to shiver slightly before she let him go along with Jarrod. Eileen, meanwhile, gave her a look that clearly spelled 'I have no intention to know so don't bother telling me' while the four others walked to the car, but Sam wasn't at all bothered. The alcohol and the desire Gabriel's one kiss had awakened inside of her were enough to make even having to wait for him bearable.

 

“...Oh, you are in _so much trouble_ now, pendejo...”, Jarrod said as soon as Teresa had pulled out of the parking spot, grinning evilly at the BLU pyro that sat in the backseat, sandwiched between him and Gabriel. On the other side of the unfortunate drugged man, Gabriel grinned much the same. “Think of all the things we could get up to now, when you can't lift a finger to hold us off! You know, siempre me pregunté cómo sería siente al joder una virgen... y sería una buena manera de vengar esas quemaduras que me diste, imbécil...” In the front seat, Teresa nearly missed a turn as she turned to Jarrod, blushing so profusely the scars of her tattoo removal stood out in stark contrast to the rest of her skin.

“No digas esas cosas! Usted dijo que no haría algo como eso - además, usted todavía tienes que tomar el tren con él mañana!”

“Okay, yeah, sorry...”, Jarrod admitted, though he turned to James with the same diabolical grin again the next second: “You're _lucky_ , pendejo, that Teresa's much too gentle to allow me to have my way with you hasta que sangro rosa de su culo. Bet you'd _love_ it, too - un pedazo de mierda como tú...”

“T'inquiètes pas, Jarrod... don't worry, what we planned is gonna be _plenty_ reason for him to _never wanna fuckin' mess with either of us, or with Sam, ever again_... T'vas l'aimer, salopard... oh, you're gonna wake up tomorrow _hurting_... You got the key earlier, Reese?”, he asked the female RED pyro, who nodded, still blushing slightly.

“Yeah – I hated having to charm the reception desk worker, but it worked. God, he was _disgusting_ , the way he looked at me.”

“Nothing Eileen can't make you forget later, amiga, tu novia sabe cómo hacer que se le olvida siquiera que el mundo existe, apuesto.” His grin grew soft and friendly for a split second before he clapped James on the shoulder hard as they pulled up to the hotel. “Ah, look, we're here! Let's get you tucked in, huh?” The BLU pyro's eyes betrayed the slightest hint of fear, both other men were glad to see when they pulled him from the car and marched him between them to the elevator while Teresa explained to the baffled doorman that 'my poor colleague overindulged and needs a little help getting settled in for the night'. “Let's see here, room 1529... ah, there we go! ...Now, Teresa said she thought this drug just made him complacent, let's see if he'll undress himself... what're you waiting for, James, strip down to your tighty-whities – keep 'em on, though, I'm not in the mood to see your ugly ass!” The British pyro complied, pulling off his clothes with slow, deliberate movements until he was down to just his underpants.

“...Sainte Mère, you're one ugly connard, Sam'd never get with you, espèce de salopard. ...Okay, now... where's that number, Jarrod?”, he asked, and his fellow RED pyro produced a scrap of paper from his pocket, grinning.

“I feel kind of jealous now – doesn't matter that he's gonna be _hurting_ about this tomorrow morning, we're still basically paying to get him laid-”, he said, sounding somewhat miserable and longing. “Daría cualquier cosa por echar un polvo esta noche, tengo que bajarse tan maldito mucho. I need to get me some.”, the Chilean elaborated when Gabriel raised an eyebrow, which caused his friend to chuckle and pat him on the shoulder while he looked around for James' telephone.

“Yeah, well, you an' me both – lucky I've got Sammy. Merde, just thinkin' about her is _drivin' me up the fuckin' wall_...”

“Well, she _is_ una chica caliente, y ella se ve como ella ama su vida sexual sea. ...I'd like a chica like your Sam, cabròn – I wouldn't leave the bed.” Gabriel meant to comment on that but right at that moment he spotted the telephone standing on the nightstand and he chuckled.

“On va s'amuser maintenant... okay... how does this sound?”, he asked, trying to get to grips with the accent the BLU pyro had, modeling it on Sam's own accent and the way her brother, Damien, spoke – successfully so, it seemed, because Jarrod shuddered.

“Uncanny, cabròn. Now, let's make that phone call!” He looked at James and grinned as Gabriel dialled the number.

“Hello, is this Sabrina's Escort Service? I would like to book one of your girls for the night but... well, the thing is, I would like something, uh, _special_... Well, let's say I like being told what to do... _roughly,_ if I may be so bold... Oh, you do? She _is_ free at this moment? That sounds perfect to me! I would very much like to book her for the night then. Or for as long as she's free at this moment, whichever is fine. ...Oh, four hours? Great, I will be sure to pay extra for your consideration, miss. ...In ten minutes? That ought to give me enough time to freshen up and get ready for her. Hotel Mirador, tenth floor, room 1529 – you can tell Elena the door'll be open, she can just walk right on in... no, thank _you_ , miss! Yes, goodnight to you too!” The tall pyro disconnected the call before walking over to James, sitting down next to him on the bed and patting him on the shoulder. “You, mon salaud, are gonna do _exactly_ as the lady tells ya, _all night long_. And you're gonna _enjoy_ every _second of_ it. Aren't ya?”, he asked, and the BLU pyro, helpless and completely at his mercy due to the drug Teresa had given him, nodded. “The money's in your jacket pocket, salaud, be sure to _pay_ the lady for her _kindness_. ... And while you're getting manhandled by an escort girl that goes by the name of 'Elena', you're gonna think _hard_ about how fuckin' _merciful_ I am – instead of getting you a four-hour S&M session, I could've _killed_ you, t'comprends?” Again, the other man nodded, and finally Gabriel vented his vitriol against the man that had tried to get his girlfriend drunk. “Good, 'cause next time, I'm _not_ gonna be held back. Not by Jarrod, not by Teresa and Eileen, not even by Sam. Compris, fils de garce?” James' look was just as blank as it'd been before, but his eyes betrayed some of the fear he clearly felt, and Jarrod motioned for them to walk outside. “Have _fun_ gettin' tied up and spanked around, James, I know _I_ am gonna enjoy it...”, he said before walking out the door, taking care to leave it open so the escort girl could enter – as the elevator opened as they waited in front of it, the woman was already there, walking past them with barely a glance at them, heading into the corridor they'd just vacated and closing the door they'd left open, though not before her loud voice sounded.

“And what's _THAT_ supposed to be?! Come on, get rid of it!” As Jarrod and Gabriel got in the elevator, they bit their lip to keep in their laughter until the doors had closed, at which point they laughed so loud the elevator felt like it shook from it.

“Oh mierda, I hope she _scars_ him, the pendejo would _never_ live it down with his team!”, Jarrod admitted, and Gabriel snorted, shaking his head.

“I hope she _makes him bawl like a baby_. Or leaves him tied up on the fuckin' bed for room service to find.”

“Ay, que vengativo, amigo...”, Jarrod said, though he grinned broadly as the elevator got to the floor below James', where his room was. “...Hey, Gabriel, diviértase con su novia, asegúrate de que no estás demasiado dolorido mañana en la mañana, de acuerdo?”

“I've got no idea what ya said, Chili-boy, mais t'sais que j'sera bien fatigué le matin prochain, mon ami...”, Gabriel said, waving at his friend as the elevator doors closed again and he could head to his and Sam's room, where his girlfriend was waiting for him.


	3. Three's the charm

“Mierda, mierda... Qué demonios es incorrecto con esta maldita llave? Por qué no funcionará?!” It wasn't exactly Jarrod Dangerfeld's most lucky night, that much was for sure. First, he met Gabriel again, bringing back all of the very pleasant memories of his previous meeting with the man and the way they'd spent that one evening together in his hotel room, only to find out that he had a girlfriend nowadays – not even a _boyfriend_ anymore, like before – and that he was utterly devoted to her, so a repeat of their previous tryst didn't look like it'd take place again. Then, of course, there'd been James goddamn Handerson and the way he'd instantly taken a liking to Gabriel's girlfriend, which had of course upset his friend. The evening had definitely looked up when he and Gabriel had been planning their revenge and when they'd exacted it with some help from Teresa... but now, as he stood in front of the door to his room with a key that didn't seem to want to work, he had to admit that it really wasn't turning out to be his night. He wasn't going to fall asleep easy with need coursing through him; but if the door wouldn't open, he wasn't going to be able to fall asleep _at all_. “Bueno, sabes qué? La mierda con esto, me voy a la recepción, les pregunto qué demonios es incorrecto con esta llave...”, he ground out, walking back to the elevator and going down to the ground floor again, muttering soft curses all the while. He felt frustrated in many ways, and tired, and all he wanted was to just crash out on his bed and maybe find whatever release he could obtain by himself... but it seemed that even _that_ was too much to ask of the universe. Making his way to the reception desk, to the somewhat surly-looking night clerk, he sighed and straightened his posture. “Buenas noches... uh, goodnight, I'm in room 0944 but I can't get in, I've got a problem with my room key-” The clerk took it from his hands, swiped the card and then raised an eyebrow.

“Sir, you've got the key for room number 1270 – are you sure you've remembered the room number correctly?”

“I'm _positive-_ ”, Jarrod started, but then he suddenly hesitated. The day had been such a blur, it was always possible that he had mistaken the room number with someone else's. Perhaps it had been Eileen and Teresa's room that he'd been trying to enter as a result – and then, of course, the key would be useless... “...okay, maybe I'm not positive. Room 1270, ya said, si?”

“Yes.”, the clerk said, looking at the pyro with a gaze that clearly said 'now get the hell away from my desk and go up to your room, you drunk wretch', and Jarrod took his key and walked back to the elevator, muttering a choice few names for the clerk under his breath and taking the elevator up to the floor where Gabriel had gotten out before. He found the room easy enough, and sure enough, the door opened with barely a sound when he slid the key in. However, the sight that met him was one that he hadn't bargained on.

“...Jarrod?” Sitting cross-legged on the bed in nothing but a sleeveless shirt and lacy panties was Samantha, Gabriel's girlfriend, looking at him with somewhat inebriated amusement – and the situation suddenly became painfully clear to him.

“Ah, _mierda_ , I took the wrong damn key! This is Gabriel's, verdad?”

“...Probably, yeah... Gabriel went looking for you a minute ago, di-didn't you meet him?”, she asked, and he shook his head.

“He probably went up to my room while I was at the reception desk... ah, _mierda_ , esta noche se pone cada vez mejor y mejor maldita...” He couldn't help but glance at Sam again, he found, his weary and frustrated mind going into overdrive at the sight of her. He hadn't been able to properly appreciate just how lucky Gabriel had gotten before, with her wearing so much clothing due to the chilly weather; but now that she was practically naked, he could tell that she wasn't just beautiful. No, she was _heartstoppingly gorgeous_ , and he knew why Gabriel was so downright jealous of James' interest before. “ _Mierda..._ ”

“...Uh, Jarrod, mind not staring, love? It's...” When she spoke up, he instantly looked away, blushing fiercely when he realized that she was right and that he _had_ been looking for too long and thinking things he wasn't supposed to think.

“Ah, mierda, I'm sorry, Sam, amiga... I... guess I'm a little tired...”

“Among others.”, she remarked lightly, and it was only then that he noticed that his body hadn't exactly been slow in following where his thoughts had led. Blushing even more profusely, he turned around on his heels, causing the woman on the bed to chuckle and add: “It's... well, it's understandable, now I get why Gabriel gets so jealous when I'm concerned. I know you're just a man, too, Jarrod, and a high-strung, frustrated man at that – Gabriel _did_ mention you've been a little deprived of contact for the past few, uh, years...”

“Oh, amiga, ya don't even know the half of it...”, Jarrod admitted, not turning around though he wasn't walking away either. He tried desperately to get his body to stop responding so eagerly to the fact that there was a half-naked, very attractive and slightly uninhibited woman only three steps away from him, but to no avail. “There's no one at the base that's interested in me, and there's women in the town, but the last time we got to go into town was... _forever_ ago... y un hombre tiene necesidades también... Solo puede hacer tantas cosas con su mano y una botella de loción barata.”

“I'm... not sure what you said there, but I heard 'hand' and 'lotion' and I think I get the picture...”, Sam admitted, her amused smile clear in her tone, and Jarrod found himself chuckling and adding to his explanation.

“So if a chica as muy caliente and perfecta as you comes along... well...”

“I have to admit I was jealous too.”, Sam said, and suddenly Jarrod _had_ to turn back around, looking at her in disbelief.

“Jealous? Because... because I slept con tu novio last year? ...Usted no tenga que ser celosa de mí! Heh, don't be jealous of me, I mean, it was just... he's attractive, and I'm _weak_ , and _he_ was weak too... it was just once... or maybe twice... Three times at most – I mean, it was only one night...”

“Three times in one night, huh? Glad to hear his stamina hasn't diminished over time. Then again, I can see why, you _are_ a very good-looking man. If you weren't as hot as you are, Jarrod, I probably wouldn't be as jealous as I am.”, Sam remarked, and when she stretched, it was all Jarrod could do to look at his feet instead of at her curvaceous body that was so close at hand... he absent-mindedly picked some lint off his T-shirt, focusing on that task instead of on the sudden thought that she was just two steps away and that he could be there, next to her... probably kissing her, too, because hadn't she just called him 'hot'?

“Mierda, mierda... mierda... I gotta go, Sam, perdóname, hermosa... si Gabriel regresa y ve cuán excitada yo soy, yo soy un hombre muerto...”, he muttered, turning around and nearly bumping in to the door as it opened to allow Gabriel back into the room.

“Well, I didn't- wait, what? Jarrod, what the hell?”, the tall pyro asked, causing Jarrod to sigh.

“I know, I know, and I'm goin' – do you have the key to _my_ room?”

“Sure-”, Gabriel started, but suddenly he shut up as he looked over his shoulder at Sam. The next thing Jarrod knew, the other pyro's voice sounded behind him. _Close_ behind him.

“...Well, wait a second, Gabriel, I was just talking to Jarrod about what happened between you two and about how I have no choice but to be jealous of him. I mean, the two of you probably had a _very_ good time back when you first met, for him to still hope for a repeat performance after all those months...” Gabriel rolled his eyes, Jarrod noticed, but didn't deny it. “T'me dis pas 'non', mon amour...”, Sam mentioned, and Gabriel chuckled – suddenly, Jarrod couldn't help but feel a little trapped between the two in a not-entirely-comfortable way.

“J'dis pas 'non' parce que c'est la vérité... we _did_ have a very good time. But now, Jarrod probably should head to his own room, j'ai déjà attendu trop long pour t'avour à moi-même-”

“...Mmm, Gabriel, if you weren't together with me, would you take _him_ along to your room?”, Sam asked – Jarrod could _hear_ the grin in her tone, and he had to bite his tongue not to speak up in Gabriel's stead that yes, he would. However, his fellow RED pyro seemed to feel that the question was a test of his faithfulness and answered in kind.

“I wouldn't anymore, not now that we're involved. Pourquoi est-ce que tu t'intéresse à mon désir passé de lui?”, he asked, and Sam chuckled softly, indulgently answering while she raked her hand through Gabriel's messy hair and causing the tall RED pyro to nearly _purr_.

“Because, mon amour, I seem to have overindulged and I'm feeling up to _enjoying_ myself tonight... and Jarrod clearly has something that had you go _three times_ in a night, and I'm somewhat curious about what that could be...” Jarrod couldn't help but feel somewhat shocked by Sam's candor and her clear eagerness to... 'to _what_ , exactly? Involve me in her and Gabriel's night? Get Gabriel to allow her to sleep with me? Él jamás permitiría ese, y no después lo celoso que era antes...'

“Mon ange, t'es pas sérieuse... I mean, hell, I _wouldn't mind_ , but-”, Gabriel started, only to get cut off by Sam pushing a finger across his lips and clearly looking at him.

“ _Gabriel, mon amour_...”, she whispered, evidently licking her lips before taking a step closer, and by doing so pressing her chest against Jarrod's back – and Jarrod himself against Gabriel, who could now clearly feel how aroused he was, the Chilean mused absent-mindedly – before adding in a sultry tone: “...if you wouldn't mind, stop denying it and _get those damn clothes off_...”

“Merde, mon ange...”, the taller pyro sighed greedily, leaning down over Jarrod's shoulder to kiss his girlfriend deeply, pressing the latino pyro in between himself and Sam – and she gladly squeezed back, one hand tangling in Gabriel's hair and the other idly caressing Jarrod's arm.

That spurred Jarrod on to action: clearly neither of his friends were loath to let him in on their intimacy, if the way Gabriel and Sam both held him tightly against themselves, in between them, was any indication... and he could literally  _ feel  _ his blood rush out of his heart and straight to his groin instead of anywhere else, making him feel somewhat light-headed. “Mmnn... Jarrod, mon ami, do I even gotta ask?”, Gabriel ground out, and Jarrod groaned.

“Necesito que está mal ... no puedo decir que no a ti ya ella. Usted y ella me quieres, entonces usted y ella me tienes. De cualquier forma que quieras. ...Hell, no, you don't gotta ask, amigo.”, he said, and just like that, Jarrod found himself again pressed in between Sam and Gabriel, though this time they happily involved him, and he gladly started kissing whatever he could reach of the taller pyro's neck, prompting a moan from Gabriel and a more-than-pleasurable grind of the other man's still-clothed groin against his lower stomach. However, after what felt like only a heartbeat, Gabriel broke away from Sam and turned Jarrod around, ending him up facing Sam instead, after which he muttered softly right into his ear.

“J'aime bien, mon ami... but _Sam_ 's the one that wanted ya in on this, so you should make it worth _her_ while, not mine. Show her _exactly_ how happy you are gettin' her.” He didn't need that said twice: as Gabriel kissed Sam deeply once again, turning whatever the woman had meant to say in protest into a lengthy, incomprehensible moan that was muffled by Gabriel's lips, Jarrod leaned down and started kissing heatedly down her neck, nipping at the pale, sensitive skin; Sam's resulting moans were _twice_ as eager as a result, and her slender hand gripped the Chilean pyro's upper arm tightly. Gabriel, meanwhile, had one arm wrapped around Sam, his hand right next to Jarrod's on her bottom, and the other hand was gently but very deliberately caressing Jarrod's burn scars and pulling up his shirt in the process, something that Jarrod was attempting his best to reward by trying to reach behind him. In the end, as Sam broke away from the kiss she and Gabriel had shared, breathing hard, it was surprising that _she_ was the one to speak sense.

“...S-shit... we're severely overdressed. _You_ are severely overdressed-”

“Alors on se déshabille, right, Jarrod?”, Gabriel said, winking at Sam and speaking up quasi-lightly to her: “...Want a li'l show?”

“If you let me back in before either of you gets too carried away, then sure...” Licking her lips, Sam moved backwards to sit on the bed, but Jarrod was past noticing anything else, because the next thing he knew, Gabriel spun him back around and kissed him deeply, and the Chilean pyro couldn't help but kiss back, his hands moving to Gabriel's behind – just like he'd done to Sam only moments before, he eagerly squeezed the other man's buttock and got rewarded by a muffled groan before Gabriel broke away from him again, slowly lifting the underside of his shirt and promoting Jarrod to quickly return the favor.

“How you wanna give your chica a show, amigo?”, Jarrod asked, grinning broadly before kissing Gabriel's neck, parting his lips and sucking hard on the skin below them, causing Gabriel to groan and roll his hips against his lower stomach again.

“ _Mmmm, merde, Jarrod..._ ”, was all the tall pyro could utter, his hands faltering for a second before his arms wrapped around the dark-haired pyro and pulled him tightly against his form. “I wanna get you out of those pants an' then get you sittin' on my lap, on that chair, facing her so she can see you enjoy yourself while _she_ is enjoying _herself_ , t'es d'accord?” A quick look Jarrod hazarded at the female pyro that was so eager for his presence revealed that she'd shimmied out of the few items of clothing she'd still had on and was looking at the two men intently while her hand had dipped down to gently, leisurely stroke herself. The sight caused him to lick his lips carefully and nod at his friend.

“Que estoy bien con cualquier cosa, hombre, estoy echar un polvo. ...As long as ya don't leave me unfinished, I'll do anything for you and your novia, _Ga-aaaaaaaaahhh...”_ The rest of his words were lost in a loud, somewhat luxuriating moan, as Gabriel kissed his neck in return, meanwhile nimbly unbuttoning his slacks and shoving them off him, along with his underpants. “Mmm, que estás ansioso para mí...”, Jarrod muttered, trying in vain to get his hands to cooperate and move to Gabriel's pants in turn, but before he knew it, he got pulled along to the chair Gabriel had indicated and then turned around so he was facing Sam.

“Sam, mon ange, do ya wanna _hear_ him plead or is it enough if you can just _see_ him squirm for it?”, Gabriel asked, his lewd grin too evident in his tone; for a second, Jarrod half-expected Sam to not reply, whether out of shock or because she was too involved in her own pleasure, but then the woman spoke up heatedly.

“ _Make him plead..._ and _make him squirm... oh god..._ ”

“Okay, Jarrod, you heard the lady – be _vocal_.”, Gabriel said, letting his hands trail from his shoulders down his chest to his stomach, calloused and scarred and feeling like _heaven_ over his own burns.

“ _Ahh, que bueno... que jodido increíble...”_ , Jarrod moaned softly, his breathing hitching as Gabriel's fingertips traced the lines of the scar over his hip. The Chilean found himself grinding down against the more-than-obvious bulge in Gabriel's trousers, prompting a frustrated moan from the other pyro and causing one of those calloused hands to move to his own, mercifully free, erection to stroke him, but only lightly so. “Oh dios, Gabriel, maldito burlan...”, he said, trying to thrust up into the other man's hand, only to be held back by the hand that still lay on his hip, idly caressing his burn scars.

“Nuh-uh, Jarrod... ya heard Sammy – no getting too carried away... But _fuck_ , I love how you're squirming... this is too damn good... if this keeps up, I'm gonna come just from the way you're rubbing that ass all over me. I want all of us – you, her, and me – to just... Je veux que ça dure jusqu'à ce que on se peut pas tenir debout. Doesn't matter if we come already, I think I can go _all night_ with you and her involved.” To emphasize his point, Gabriel nuzzled Jarrod's neck and sucked on the unblemished skin, causing the dark-haired man to cry out something incomprehensible and pleasure-filled.

“ _M-mierda..._ All night, huh?”, he said, grinning diabolically before looking over to Sam and speaking up to her, his voice somewhat breathless already. “Sam, hermosa... c'mon over here... we seem to have a li'l problem...”

“I'm enjoying myself-”, she protested, only to get cut off by Jarrod again.

“I know, amiga, but Gabriel isn't gonna last with me sittin' on him like this... and neither am I if you keep displayin' yourself to me on that bed, amiga... No puedo durar de todos modos, ha pasado demasiado tiempo.” For a second, Sam seemed hesitant, but then she nodded and walked over to him, looking down at him in breathless anticipation.

“Gabriel, take your pants off first...”, she said, and Jarrod got off the other man to allow him to get completely naked before sitting back down, Gabriel's length very alluringly settled between his ass and the man's own stomach. “Now, Jarrod, why did you want me stopping?”

“Only for the moment, hermosa, you can get yourself off all you want now...”, Jarrod said before pulling her closer and closing his mouth over her nipple, prompting a delighted squeal from her and a very unsubtle shudder from Gabriel. However, if the other pyro was jealous or didn't want him to bring pleasure to his girlfriend, he didn't speak up, nor did his strokes falter. In fact, the hand around his erection squeezed just a little tighter and moved just a little faster now than it had before, Jarrod mused as he silenced a moan of his own against Sam's soft, warm skin, not completely oblivious to the way she had a grip on his head with one hand while the other hand had probably dipped back down to finger herself to a very happy end, something that he was rapidly going towards as well.

“...Oh merde... Sammy, do that again... Jarrod, make her do that again, je t'en prie... Between Sammy making those _perfect_ sounds and your ass, I'm _so damn close_...” The dark-haired pyro didn't need that said twice: he detached from her one nipple to move to the other, tweaking the one he'd just abandoned with one hand and using his other hand as leverage on Gabriel's knee to push back against the other man's erection; when Sam cried out something incomprehensible that could be a cross between his name and her boyfriend's, and when Gabriel shuddered and his hand _squeezed hard_ around Jarrod's length, it proved too much and his mind blanked.

“ _Mierdaaaaahhhh...!_ ” He lost control over the way his body rode out the pleasure hard into the confines of Gabriel's scarred hand, spilling his fluids all over the man's knuckles and maybe even getting some on Sam's stomach, the way she stood close to him, while he was somewhat mindful about how Gabriel's semen was smeared all over his lower back, slowly trickling in between his asscheeks. _“Ah, mierda..._ ”, he ground out, looking Sam over to see her chest heaving and her eyes fixed on Gabriel, who wasted no time pulling her down for a short but deep kiss.

“I second that... bloody _hell_ , that was... wow... I've never come quite as fiercely as _that_...”, Sam said, grinning and absent-mindedly licking her finger, causing Jarrod to grin.

“Heh, amiga, and the night's still young. Gabriel's going to be more than eager to make you pass out one happy chica tonight...”

“And so are you, huh, Jarrod?”, Sam guessed, and he grinned shyly, prompting Gabriel to speak up.

“No use denyin' it, Jarrod, mon ami... you want more, I want more, she wants more... Sam, mon ange, think you can accommodate me an' the Chili flamer here?”, he asked, making his girlfriend look the both of them over. As her eyes passed over his body, lingering for a little longer on his softening length, Jarrod could feel his body gear up again for more pleasure: those eyes, half-lidded and dark with enjoyment, were making promises he was eagerly accepting. Then, Sam licked her lips and nodded.

“Sure... but first, maybe you'll need a little cleaning up. Jarrod, mind taking care of Gabriel?”, she asked, and before the Chilean could affirm, Gabriel already had a grip on his head and pulled him to his stomach, where he lightly lapped up the fluids, grinning broadly as his fair-haired friend shuddered. Then, however, _he_ was the one to shudder as Sam dropped to her knees and bent low to lick his seed off his length, causing his stomach muscles to tense and blood to rush back to his groin. All too soon for his liking, however, she'd already detached from him again and got back up, tangling her hand in Gabriel's hair and allowing him to lick a few faint drops of liquid from her stomach – Jarrod nearly didn't realize anymore that that was _his_ semen, dizzy as Sam's 'cleaning up' had made him – which prompted a soft moan from her before she spoke again: “Ja-jarrod... get up...” As he did so, she dropped back to her knees and gently lapped up the drying streaks of wetness on his back before getting up again slowly, eyes sparkling with need. “...How do you want me to 'accommodate' you and Jarrod, mon amour?”

“Mmm, there's a couple of ways...”, Gabriel said, and Jarrod grinned despite himself. The thought of Sam going down on him was alluring – the touch of her lips and tongue had been soft but determined – and the thought of taking Sam from behind at the same time as Gabriel would take her was even more heart-stopping. He was so immersed in the thoughts that he nearly missed Gabriel's plan.

“Espera, qué?” Gabriel chuckled and Sam nearly purred, clearly _itching_ for Gabriel's plan – something Jarrod couldn't blame her for when the tallest of the three of them reiterated his plan.

“J'ai dit... We can both take Sammy – might be a tight fit but hell, _that's gonna feel too fuckin' good to be true for all of us –_ and if she can't cope, then... well, c'est pas comme vous ne voudriez pas la prendre de l'arrière, n'est-ce pas?”

“Mierda, no me importaría en absoluto. ...Gotta ask, though, Sam, it... you _did_ that before, right? Don't want to hurt you-”

“Jarrod, you'll find there's precious little I haven't done before.”, Sam admitted, grinning and then motioning herself over. “Now _come on_ , guys-” Before she was finished talking, Gabriel pulled her against him hungrily, his hands on her behind, but not before motioning for Jarrod to step back into reach. The dark-haired pyro complied with little hesitation, desire fuelling him to instantly embrace Sam and start kissing her neck and shoulders again with a hunger that had only grown from his earlier peak. “ _Oh my god..._ ”, Sam gasped out, the hand that wasn't firmly tangled in Gabriel's unruly hair grasping for Jarrod's, only managing when he took pity on her and gently nuzzled her neck for a second, for which he was rewarded with a slightly painful tug on his hair.

“I'm flattered, hermosa- _ahh sííííí...!_ ” He had meant to tease her, but when Gabriel kissed her other shoulder, she ground backwards against Jarrod's erection, and he couldn't help but shiveringly roll his hips right into her, effectively pressing her against Gabriel in turn. “Mierda, Sam, si alguna vez te cansas de Gabriel... ah, mi amigo, te juro que voy a dar algo para limpiar de nuevo...” Gabriel's response was a dry chuckle before he returned the favor, grinding against Sam, pushing her back against his Chilean friend, who reapplied himself to her shoulder while trying to get the movements of his hips coordinated. Soon, Sam was vocally showing her enjoyment and eagerly shivering in the combined hold of her boyfriend and the man he'd had an adventure with a year before, while Gabriel and Jarrod were just about going crazy with the way their female companion was riling them with her body and her half-cries for them to keep going and kiss her just right. However, neither forgot about their intentions to both take the woman pressed between them, and they left off their kisses when Sam's breathing started to become erratic.

“N- _nooo... not yet..._ ”, Sam stammered – Jarrod meant to speak up and say that they had something a lot better in mind, but Gabriel beat him to it with an avid look in his eyes.

“T'vas pas finir sans nous, mon ange – there's _no fuckin' way_ you're gonna leave us hanging, not when ya said you could take both of us...” Jarrod found his taller friend wink at him before taking a step backwards toward the bed, sitting down on the edge. “...Maybe me an' Jarrod need to sit down, otherwise we'll get into trouble, he's a little shorter 'n me and we want to get _all we can_ outta this, n'est-ce pas, Jarrod?”

“Claro que sí!”, he eagerly chimed in, sitting down on Gabriel's lap again, though this time facing the other man. “Sam, hermosa, c'mon... Déjame y Gabriel te cuidar muy bien...” He knew the woman didn't understand a word he'd said, but still she complied, walking over to them and eagerly stepping over Gabriel's legs so she now sat between the two men again, at which point Gabriel very unceremoniously pulled her down onto himself and Jarrod. The Chilean groaned loudly as white-hot pleasure shot up his spine, nearly making his brain melt. “A-Ah caray... Sam, crees que puedes manejarla?”

“Mmmm yeah...”, she said, her voice hoarse as if she had already been shouting out her pleasure for the world to hear, and Jarrod and Gabriel grinned at each other before the fair-haired pyro motioned for her to put her feet up on the bed.

“Grab her hips, Jarrod, then we can... _nnngh_...” Jarrod's hands were on Sam's hips in a heartbeat, causing Gabriel to _show_ the remainder of his sentence with a loud and extremely satisfied gasp instead of _tell_ his fellow pyro what the idea was: with both men having a tight grip on her hips and with her legs up on the bed, they could set the pace, thrusting up into her or pulling her down onto them, whichever term fit better – and Sam clearly loved that if her startled but gratified moan was any indication. “... _Oh merde... j'vais jamais... jamaaiiiis... durer..._ The friction... ahh...”, Gabriel admitted, though he didn't stop or even slow down in his pulling his girlfriend down into his upward thrusts. Jarrod eagerly joined in after getting used to the feeling of Sam's insides squeezing around not just his length but also Gabriel's, pressing their two erections together. It felt remotely similar to the previous year, when Gabriel had pressed them together and stroked the both of them to a simultaneous orgasm with only one hand having a tight hold on the both of them, but at the same time it was so different due to the soft, almost velvety moistness of Sam's body enveloping them in an almost too tight way. All in all, it was no surprise to Jarrod to find that all three of them – Gabriel and Sam as well as he himself – were right on the edge after what seemed like only two or three rolls of their hips into each other. “Ahh, _ahhh m-mierdaaa... No puedo seguir así..._ Mmmh, Sam, lo ruego, inclínate hacia atrás un poco más...”, he asked, gasping loudly when Sam pushed herself down just a little harder than he and Gabriel had bargained for, repeating his statement in plain English in a shaky voice the next second: “ _Lean back, amiga... oh Dios mio... l-lean back and-”_ When she complied, rolling her hips right into another shivering thrust of the two men, Jarrod pulled her against his chest, letting his right hand wander up to her bosom to squeeze her breast while he gave her a lovebite right on her shoulder. He didn't care that he was probably upstaging Gabriel: if his taller friend had complaints, he certainly didn't hear them, not with the way Sam very nearly _sang_ in joy as she shook. Not quite there yet but already teetering on the edge, poised to fall – not just Sam, but Jarrod and Gabriel as well: the blond pyro was sweating enough for it to be visibly matting his hair down on his head, and Jarrod could feel the tension light his body up like it was doused in alcohol and held to a match. “Mierda... n-no puede- _nnnh..._ con-contenerme...”, the dark-haired pyro ground out, to which Gabriel answered heatedly.

“ _Don't you go fuckin'... holdin' back on me an' Sammy..._ ” Sam lifted herself a little higher off them, after which Gabriel pulled her down hard, which ended Sam's struggle to hold on: with a loud cry of what Jarrod _hoped_ was Gabriel's name, her inner muscles squeezed his and his fellow RED pyro's erections and set them both off as well, Gabriel arching right into Sam with an inarticulate, shivering moan and Jarrod rolling his hips wildly against the female pyro's bottom until the pleasure died down and he found his body ache, even more so when Gabriel fell back onto the bed and pulled Sam along. “...Donc, alors, est-ce que ça t'as satisfait? T'as eu assez de notre ami Chilien pour durer toute une vie?” Jarrod was already looking around for his clothes when Sam shrugged and spoke up somewhat hoarsely.

“...I don't know, he might not have had enough of _me_ to last _him_ a lifetime...”

“T'fais rigole ou quoi?!”, Gabriel instantly flared up, and Jarrod felt a little out of his depth all of a sudden. Gabriel sounded jealous again – and the way he looked at him now, with a half-annoyed but still half-aroused scowl, made him feel apprehensive. But the way _Sam_ looked back at him was even _more_ heated and he faltered. She hadn't said that she'd had enough of him, and the look in her eyes told him he wasn't at liberty to leave yet. Gabriel seemed to guess it as well, and he groaned. “...Donc, t'veux qu'il reste ici? You wanna have a round three with him, then, huh?”

“Yes-” She was cut off by Gabriel pulling her against himself, nuzzling his head into her neck and whispering something in her ear that got her to shiver and then nod. All in all, it made Jarrod feel a little more apprehensive. What were they discussing? Did he need to quickly throw his clothes on and leave, or should he stay? “...Oh, _Jarrod..._ ”, Sam said in a sing-song voice, and he focused on her again to see her walk over to him, swaying her hips and looking like he was the answer to her prayers: instantly, the dark-haired found his throat dry and his lungs involuntarily pulling in more air.

“S-sí, hermosa?”

“Gabriel said it'd be okay for us to _entertain_ ourselves a little while he freshens up, but I have to ask, would you mind if he sits this one out? You were with _him_ first-” Jarrod shook his head softly, at a loss for words because suddenly she pressed her body against his again and he had to _force_ his brain to cooperate.

“I... mierda... I wouldn't mind-” No sooner had he spoken the words than Sam kissed him deeply, her hand tangling into his hair to keep him in place. All of the Chilean's reservations fell away as the woman that had so happily indulged both him and her boyfriend moaned into the kiss, clearly enjoying the feel of him and the prospect of the pleasure they'd share; it took him maybe a few heartbeats to respond as eagerly as she did, settling his hands on her lower back to hold her against him. His head _spun_ from her proximity, and he could smell himself as well as Gabriel on her, which only served to heighten the response he had to the kiss. When Sam and he broke apart for a few much-needed breaths, she grinned at him and let her other hand trail over his scarred side, just like Gabriel had at first – but whereas his fellow RED pyro's hands, with their own scars, had been rough and demanding, Sam's touch was much more soft and enticing, and he shuddered. With hands as soft as hers, she could get him off in _seconds_. “Ay, Sam, tan perfecta y hermosa...”, he groaned, and she grinned before gently kissing the scars in his neck, nipping at the blemished skin and causing him to roll his hips gently into her body. “Ayy, sí...”

“Mmm, Jarrod... tell me, would you do me a favor? I promise you, it'll be _great_ for you.” To emphasize her words, she let her hand wander between the two of them to run a fingertip along his length, causing Jarrod to groan and shiver lightly in ill-repressed need.

“Oh, you've got it... what do ya want me to do, Sam, mi hermosa?”

“Mmm, close your eyes and hold your hands behind your back, hold them together... and no cheating until I say you can open your eyes or move your hands...”, she said, leaning a little lower and kissing down to his chest, again very lightly touching his erection and promoting another shiver from him. Without conscious thought, his eyes closed and he held his arms behind himself, moaning when the BLU pyro kissed further, across his chest, then down to his stomach and then- “Ahh, a-ay mííí...”, he gasped out when her lips wrapped around the tip of his length almost shyly before she moved her head down to take him in painstakingly slowly. “Sammy... es tan bueno...”

“Mmmh...”, she moaned, clearly enjoying herself, and then she moved to nearly pull off him before moving back down faster, causing his fingertips and palms to _itch_ for holding her head and thrusting up into the welcoming warmth of her mouth. However, he'd promised – or rather, she'd asked him not to open his eyes or move his hands until she said so, and he didn't want to risk her _stopping –_ and so he just clenched his hands a little more tightly together.

“Ahh, man... Sam, you're _heaven_... Entiendo por qué te llama 'ángel'...”, he ground out, unable to stop his hips from very subtly twitching a little in her hold in an attempt to spur her on, but she had too tight a hold on him for it to have any effect.

So absorbed was he in the sensation of Sam going down on him that he barely felt anything else. When he felt something brush his wrists, he took no heed of it, figuring that maybe Gabriel wasn't as much 'sitting it out' as 'needing a little bit of rest'. The man was over thirty, he knew, so maybe he didn't have as much stamina anymore. When he felt Gabriel's breath on his shoulder, breathing out shakily, he didn't think anything of it.

However, when suddenly something closed tightly around his wrists, effectively pinning his arms behind his back, he couldn't help but open his eyes to look – and instantly he noticed two things. Sam pulled off him with a slightly apologetic albeit stunningly  _ anticipatory  _ grin on the one hand... and on the other hand, Gabriel gave the straps that held his arms in place a final tug and stepped out from behind him.

“O-oye, qué pasa?!”, he muttered, prompting the taller pyro to answer him.

“You're too damn eager for your own good, this oughta cool your ardor a little. And _hell,_ it makes _mine_ skyrocket. J'ai jamais fait ceci à toi quand on s'est baisé.”, Gabriel admitted, his grin growing progressively more eager and slightly worrying. However, Jarrod grinned as well, though not as much as Gabriel did.

“No me importa esto para nada. ...Heh, Gabriel, you of all people should know I've _had_ my fair share of bondage... like it more when it's _me_ doin' the tying up, of course, but...” He winked at Sam quickly before looking Gabriel over and adding in a downright _challenging_ tone: “...ya _take_ what ya can get...”

“Oh, crois-moi, Chili-boy, you don't know _half_ how true that's gonna be.”, the fair-haired pyro ground out, grabbing Jarrod's shoulders and marching him over to the bed, pushing him down onto it before looking him over. “Donc, ya think ya can lay like this without dislocating anything, mon ami? Because once I start, I'm not gonna stop anymore, no matter how much pain you're in.” Jarrod just nodded, clearly anxious to see what Gabriel had in mind, though he could guess easily judging by the fact that Gabriel had brought a somewhat familiar-looking tube to the bed. He tried to lift his head to see Gabriel spread the lubricant over his length; however, as soon as he managed to look past his own stomach, the other pyro started to spread the substance over his sphincter and he pushed his head back into the mattress out of sheer necessity. Gabriel's fingers were remarkably calloused due to the burns and the fact that he'd been wearing the fireproof gloves for longer than any of them, and every bump and ridge on them caused shivers to run down Jarrod's spine... that, with his hands out of commission, he could do _nothing_ to either promote or keep at bay. All he _could_ do was moan and try and gain enough leverage with his legs to push back against Gabriel's fingers, but the other pyro was savvy to that as well and used the hand that wasn't trying to coax his muscles to relax to pull the pyro's legs over his shoulders so he had _no_ leverage whatsoever, rendering him helpless and causing him to groan again.

“ _Unfair_ , Gabriel, amigo... ahhh, ay Dios mio... sus dedos son demasiado buenos... T-too fucking good, amigo, you're too fuckin' good for me...” That bit of flattery, surprisingly, got Gabriel's grin to grow less self-satisfied, though it remained incredibly promising. The pyro's strokes slowed down and he applied a little more pressure, causing one fingertip to slip inside of Jarrod at long last: Gabriel wasted no time in pressing the digit deeper slowly, prompting a groan out of the dark-haired pyro and a somewhat amused half-mumble from Sam, who was avidly watching her boyfriend prepare the third party in their room for a repeat of _their_ previous liaison. Jarrod blushed fiercely – he'd been so focused on the pleasure Gabriel was bringing him that he'd forgotten about Sam.

“Mon ange, why don't you tell Jarrod what he can do for _you_... that ought to keep him busy until he's all ready for me again...”, Gabriel spoke softly, timing his words with a sudden sharp thrust of his finger into Jarrod, causing the other pyro to try and gain leverage for pushing back against the invading digit with his bound hands, due to which he almost didn't hear what Sam said.

“Well, Jarrod, taking you _and_ Gabriel in at the same time was a lot more messy than I'd expected so... I might need you to clean me up. And while your mouth is out of commission, Gabriel thought it wouldn't be a problem for him to make sure you've gotten everything you want out of this... you know, make sure you can last those lonely months out on your base all the better with that hand and that bottle of lotion you mentioned before...”

“Okay, sí, I'll clean you up, amiga, but I, uh... how-” Sam crawled up on the bed and Jarrod paled just a little. “O-oh, no, de ninguna manera, n-no puedo empujarte fuera si necesito respirar, hermosa... If we do that and I can't breathe...”

“I think I'll notice if you stop eating me out and start trying to gasp for breath.”, Sam said with a soft, forgiving look, to which Gabriel added in a slightly less heated tone.

“Yeah, man, if you think you need a li'l fresh air, just... push _me_ with your foot or somethin' and I'll give Sammy a warning. T'inquiètes pas, mon ami...” As if to emphasize that their endgame was pleasure and not torture, Gabriel chose that exact moment to press a second finger into the dark-haired pyro, ending all his anxieties and protests with a startled and immensely joyful moan.

“B-bien entonces, adelante, Sam, te daré lo que quiere – _mmmnnn –_ y algo más...” She didn't need that repeated, he found: swiftly, she moved so she was sitting over him and gently moved her nethers within reach for his tongue. Grinning as he could taste the salty, sharp taste of both his own seed and Gabriel's, Jarrod wasted no time in first lapping up the half-dried residue of it on Sam's inner thighs, causing the woman's breathing to hitch on every movement of his tongue, and then from her labia, causing her to moan hoarsely.

“ _Mmmm, yesssss, Jarrod..._ ” If he had his hands free, Jarrod found, he'd still only help her do what she did next, which was to get her to move lower so he could nip at her inner thighs and promote short, sharp little gasps from her. The same kind of gasps that he himself occasionally had to let slip as well because Gabriel way clearly trying to get him as loose as ever. The fair-haired pyro was now using _three_ fingers inside of him, and every movement of those fingers gave rise to an almost painful enjoyment. All Jarrod could do to show it was rhythmically squeeze his fellow pyro's shoulders with his legs, something that Gabriel seemed to like if his heavy breaths were an indication. Then, however, he withdrew the fingers again – the next thing Jarrod knew, Gabriel was slowly entering him, and he had to leave off Sam's privates for a second to moan loudly.

“Ah... Oh dios, que había olvidado lo grande que eres...”

“T-tout pour toi maintenant, mon ami... Just this once again... oh _merde_ , you're so _fuckin' tight_ , Jarrod, it's really been too long since ya got any...” Just like he'd done on their first tryst, Gabriel lifted his ankles for a first tentative thrust into his nethers – Jarrod would've moaned again if Sam didn't decide that she'd been neglected long enough. As it was, Sam lowered just a fraction of an inch more, which ended Jarrod up with his nose nearly buried inside Sam. Luckily, the dark-haired pyro was not too focused on his own pleasure and he tilted his head back a little more, pressing his tongue inside the female pyro's nethers to lap up the residual fluids there, getting rewarded by an unsubtle shudder running through her and a melodious moan. Once he was sure she was as clean as she'd ever get in the middle of being pleasured every damn way they could think of, Jarrod got another idea, however, and tilted his head again to manage to drag his tongue roughly over Sam's nethers. Her resulting moan was loud enough to cause Gabriel's thrust to falter – and it also told Jarrod just where to apply his lips next, which he did: closing his lips over that sweet spot, he suckled gently on it and then ran his tongue over it again and again, which now ended Sam up nearly grinding her privates against his face none too subtly. Jarrod felt like he was going to burst into flames at any time by then: between Gabriel now taking him roughly, his every thrust pushing his body into the mattress hard, and Sam rolling her hips as she clearly was building up to another mind-blanking release, it was no wonder that he felt like he'd last even less long than either of them. Still, when Sam did what he hadn't bargained for and leaned down over him, once again going down on him while still keeping her nethers right in reach for the Chilean to lavish with attention, he was surprised the mere touch of her lips didn't push him over the edge. He knew better than to roll his hips into her ministrations – she moved contrary to Gabriel's thrusts, moving her head down every time her boyfriend drew back from within him, which had the same effect – and he certainly knew better than to voice his enjoyment instead of suckle on the spot that had Sam _writhing_ above him.

“Oh merde... _Merde, Jarrod_ , j'peux plus... I-I'm- can't-”, Gabriel warned, his thrusts growing somewhat sloppy, and Jarrod meant to speak – only he'd forgotten what his lips and his tongue were occupied with and the first word he tried to utter ended him up raking his teeth softly over the spot he'd been lavishing with attention before, setting the female pyro off with a half-scream she silenced on Jarrod's length, causing him to sink in a _lot_ deeper than she'd been allowing him. To Jarrod's fraying self-control, that caused it to finally fall apart, which had him lose track of anything but the way Sam happily swallowed his semen – and, which was infinitely more important, Gabriel's loud grunt of his name as he bucked wildly into him and filled him. Sam moved off him, but not far away, just a second before the strength to remain upright seemed to leave Gabriel and the pyro flopped down on the bed half on top of Jarrod, who chuckled but didn't protest, not even if his shoulders were starting to hurt. Gabriel caught his look of discomfort and loosened the straps again, freeing up his arms before falling sideways off him again. “... _Jesus_ , Jarrod, that... on le devra faire tout le temps...”

“Hey, easy there.”, Sam said softly, and Jarrod noticed her smile at him before speaking on teasingly: “You were the one that was reluctant at first, don't tell me that you're now suddenly _eager_ for it to happen again. ...Besides, wasn't the whole _point_ of this last little bit of fun to make sure it'd last Jarrod a lifetime?”

“...Well, yeah, but it backfired – n'me dis pas que tu n'veux pas, mon ange, I can see it in your eyes when ya look at him.”, Gabriel said, and Sam huffed, though her tone was warm when she spoke.

“Bien, okay, I admit it, Jarrod is _hot_ and he certainly knew how to make me lose my mind... but he gets a say in this too-”, Sam started, only for Gabriel to snort.

“He ain't getting any action at his base, so I doubt he'll object – n'est-ce pas, mon ami?” Gabriel's grin was clearly the mirror image of his own: satisfied to the extreme, but also clearly anticipating the next time the three would need to hit the town at the same time. Jarrod nodded before stretching.

“Probablemente debí ir a mi propio cuarto ahora...”

“Yeah... if we don't show up at HQ tomorrow, we'll be lucky to get a chance to plead forgiveness – not to mention they said something about a 'battle test' tomorrow and we'll need to be well-rested for that. And if Jarrod crashes in this abominably small bed with us, I'm waking up with cramps.”, Sam admitted, but not before lazily running a hand over Jarrod's cheek. The gesture was tender, he found, showing that passion was the last thing on her mind now, and he nodded. The three of them had satisfied their hunger; if Sam and Gabriel didn't go right to sleep, it'd be because they sought _intimacy_ and _tenderness_ above _satisfaction_ , and that would never include him.

Which was fine by him, he mused as he quickly located and put on his clothes again before heading back out.

Only when the door closed behind him, he bit back a curse. He  _ still didn't have his key _ .

 


	4. Up close and personal

“...So, you two, did anyone on your floor sleep tonight?”, Eileen asked when Sam and Gabriel appeared at breakfast, both wearing track pants and t-shirt and grinning the moment they heard the question their friend posed.

“I don't know what you're talking about, Eileen, I'm sure we didn't cause _any_ trouble at all-”

“Yes, that explains why Jarrod took one look at the two of you and nearly choked on his breakfast.”, Teresa added, which prompted Gabriel to add to his girlfriend's statement.

“...Okay, yes, it depends on what you consider 'trouble', but we ain't kept no one out of their well-deserved sleep.  I'll have ya know we checked with the reception desk to ask to make sure that our room was well-isolated.  The desk clerk looked like he'd have a heart attack-”

“That was probably because you gave a very _graphic_ description ofhow well the soundproofing of their rooms ought to be in our case, mon amour.”, Sam said, adding quickly as she saw how the two other women looked about ready to firmly deprecate their lascivious behaviour: “Anyway, breakfast – I don't know about the two of you, but I feel famished.”

“Moi aussi – and don't ya go thinkin' it's because we used up all of our energy!”, Gabriel said, though he spoke with a soft, almost pleading grin and had his arm wrapped around Sam's waist.  The two couples joined Jarrod at their breakfast table – the Chilean barely looked up from his bowl of cereal except to wish Sam and Gabriel a good mornng.  Sam and Gabriel went past the breakfast buffet and returned with a bowl full of fruit salad in Sam's case and a similar bowl of cereal to Jarrod's where Gabriel was concerned.  However, the tallest of the group seemed to rue his choice from the first spoonful.  “...Oh man, I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but I can't wait to go back home, to the base – this breakfast est d'la connerie misérable... how's anyone shovel in this shit?”, the blond pyro said, his tone laced with carefully held-back disgust.  Then, he added with a glance at the empty chair of the table: “...An' speaking of d'la connerie misérable, where's Failure Loverboy?”

“Who?”, Sam asked, and Gabriel sighed.

“James the asshole.  Sammy, Teresa told me what he did when we were in the car, while he was passed out.  Fuckin' _fils de garce sale_ ordered you an' him the same drink and then switched them as soon as yours was almost empty so ya'd get drunk... 'cause he hoped you'd forget about me and go with _him_ instead when you'd get drunk...”  Instantly, Sam's back straightened – the other three pyros at the table noticed how tense she suddenly was, showing just how much she appreciated having been led on like that by a man she'd just met.

“He... you're not serious, are you, Gabriel?  You're just saying that because you're jealous, right?  James was... nothing but kind to me, he didn't swap drinks with me.”

“Pero lo hizo, Sam, amiga... only he _did_...”, Teresa said, shaking her head.  “I... wouldn't have believed it either, but Eileen saw him do it.  Right, hermosa?”

“Yes... as much as I hate to say that Gabriel bloody Dantan's right for once to be his usual bastard self-”

“J't'aime aussi, ma chère flamme irlandaise...”, Gabriel said with more genuine warmth than teasing in his tone, and Eileen's glare diminished to a somewhat exasperated look as she continued.

“-James Handerson was trying to get you drunk enough to forget about your lover.  And it was probably working.  If Teresa hadn't turned up and said Gabriel and Jarrod were in that arcade, you would've been two – or _four_ – drinks away from a night with the British piece of shite.  He was already getting a lot more handsy than you'd ever let anyone be.  Or don't you remember anymore that he kept running his hand along your arm?”  Sam grew more tense again: she bit her lip nervously and fidgeted in her chair, causing Teresa and Eileen to look at each other a little upset and prompting Gabriel to run a hand over Sam's back.

“T'inquiètes pas, il n'a pas réussi, mon ange – it didn't fuckin' _work_ and that's what's important-”

“No, but I was thinking all night and all morning that you should give James a chance, that he isn't out to _seduce_ me... and now it turns out he's just as horrible as Theo bloody Mundy-”

“Who's Theo Mundy, amiga?”, Jarrod asked, and Sam huffed, though it was Eileen that spoke up first.

“With a name like that, a sniper.”

“Yes, my team's sniper to be exact – the man's dirty in every sense of the word.  Filthy body, filthy room, filthy mind.  He's tried to get Gabriel to go with him last year at Thanksgiving while I was asleep-”

“T'as raison d'être jalouse, mon ange, mais j'ai plus envie à me coucher avec personne d'autre que toi-”, Gabriel interrupted her – and Teresa interrupted _him_ in turn, her words spoken softly but causing everyone at the table to go deathly quiet all of a sudden.

“-excepting maybe Jarrod, es verdad?”  Gabriel and Jarrod suddenly started shoveling in their breakfast at top speed, and even Sam gave unwavering attention to her breakfast again, causing the two other female pyros to give each other a look of exasperation and shake their heads.  If it hadn't been clear before that the three had had some kind of nightly misadventure together, it was more than obvious now.  Instead of voicing their disappointment in the three to shelve their needs for just one night, however, the Mexican pyro and her Irish girlfriend steered away from the subject again to a more pressing matter at hand.  “...Okay, let's... not think about _that_ , then.  So, today... we've all been summoned to BLU headquarters, right?”, she asked, and Eileen nodded.

“Yes, even the two RED wonders here and you, lasair... but other than that it's for a 'battle test' and that we need to be well-rested and well-fed, I've got no idea what the point's going to be.”

“I hope we don't have to fight each other, that'd be horrible.  I don't want to fight you or Teresa-”, Sam said softly.

“You've got no qualms fighting Gabriel, amiga?”, Jarrod asked, and Sam chuckled as she shook her head.

“We already fight each other five days out of seven for ten hours a day, Jarrod, so no.  ...Now, fighting you, that I think I could manage.”  The Chilean pyro perked up at the mention of battling Sam, looking her over in a clear show of sizing up her battle prowess by her appearance before chuckling.

“You'd have one hell of a fight in me – I've trained for so long with my Axtinguisher, I've gotten _used_ to it-”

“Oh, mon ami, you _don't_ wanna fight Sammy... her 'Sap-B-Gone'-”, Gabriel started, only to get interrupted by Eileen.

“What in the name of God and his angels is a 'Sap-B-Gone'?”

“Well, it's not called that, it's just what _I_ call it – it's a sledgehammer.  Uh, a Homewrecker hammer?”, Sam explained tentatively, and Gabriel nodded, finishing his explanation when the rest of the pyros didn't show any signs of interrupting again.

“Yeah, her 'Sap-B-Gone' sledgehammer... it's good for _more_ than just _breaking sappers_.  She fought me with it once and I... died _slowly_.  Dyin' of internal bloodloss is a fuckin' _pitiful_ death.  And Sam's good with it.  C'est comme ci elle n'a jamais battu avec une autre arme.  Whoever fights Sammy is gonna be _very sorry_.”  He then looked up and grinned softly, carefully molding the expression into a neutral one before anyone else could see how utterly cruel he'd looked.  “...Well, _wow_ , what happened to _you_?”

“You know _full well_ what's happened to me, you piece of French shite!  You and that latin arsehole friend of yours, you know _exactly_ what's happened to me, damn it!”, James Handerson bristled violently as he sat down in the empty seat next to Teresa, wincing when his posterior came into contact with the chair and then wincing _again_ as his back touched the wooden back of the chair.  “ _You_ and _Dangerfeld_ , you both know _exactly_ what happened, probably laughed about it all damn night!  Sam-”, he started, turning his attention to the woman he'd been desperately trying to get drunk the previous evening – but Sam tensed again and glared at him, which caused Gabriel's grin to grow a lot fonder all of a sudden.

“James Handerson, you owe me an apology – and you'd _better make sure it's a good one_ , bloody _two-faced tosser_!”  All of James' anger seemed to make place for apprehension all of a sudden, and he looked paler, which threw the handprint on his cheek in even starker contrast.

“I... don't know what you're talking about-”, he started, only for Sam to rise from her chair and glower down at him.

“You tried to get me drunk last night so I'd go with _you_ instead of going with Gabriel!  All that pleasant behaviour, all that acting like you dislike Jarrod simply because of his Axtinguisher... all of that was just an _act_ to get me to lower my guard!  That's _low_ , and not only that – that is _shameful_.  Not even Jarrod would do that, no matter how interested he is!  I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth until it's an apology, _Handerson_.”, she said, and the British pyro groaned, running a hand over his face and wincing when his fingertips brushed over the bruise 'Elena' had left.  He wasn't sorry, of course – and after a few seconds of silence, Sam nodded.  “...Right, I see.  Well, you can _shove it_ , then, _Handerson_.  ...Gabriel, mon amour, let's go get changed.”

“Oh, right, we've got to get going in a while.  Teresa, maybe it's best if you chauffeur the Brit halfwit-”  James meant to react to that, but Eileen squeezed his shoulder and he yelped and cringed, visibly in pain.  The Irish pyro had to admit she was starting to feel more and more satisfied with Jarrod and Gabriel's plan for revenge, because not only did it seem to have upset her male BLU colleague to have been manhandled by a prostitute, the bruises also came in handy as a means to get him to shut up.  “No protests, Handerson, you know that you did this to yourself – whatever you think Gabriel and Jarrod did, you _provoked_ it.  Teresa, can you drive _him_?  I'll take our killer trio here – I'm warning the three of you, though, _not a word_ -”, she started, only for Sam to raise a hand and speak softly.

“Not even a breath, Ail', you know we're, uh... more _subdued_ than that towards you and Reese.  James, see _you_ when you've got a decent apology – that, or in battle.”  The five got up, leaving James to sit alone in the large breakfast room.

 

“...Oh, Gabriel, Jarrod, that was...”

“J'sais, je sais...”, Gabriel admitted as the six of them stood in the waiting area where they'd been redirected to, the sound of humming machinery making the air around them seemingly vibrate.  “It was cruel and vindictive-”

“I was going to say it was a waste of money, mon amour, but okay.”, Sam said, looking at James, who avoided her eye and shied a little further away from the five others, prompting her to sigh again.  “If he'd been trying to get with you in that way, I wouldn't have been as subtle as you and Jarrod were.  I would've _savaged_ him.”

“Yeah, well, what can I say, ya made me a better man, mon ange.”, Gabriel admitted with a smile, motioning around airily with his hands before winking at her: “'Sides, in a way, we _did_ savage him.  I'll bet that Elena broad gave him lashes on his back or something – not even _Billy_ winced like that after a night with me-”

“Gabriel, demasiada información, amigo.”, Teresa commented when Eileen looked ready to hit the taller pyro on the head again – which, considering the fact that she was polishing her weapon, would not be a good idea.  However, the Irish woman's attention soon focused on Jarrod as the dark-haired man spoke up with a soft grin.

“...Maybe she didn't lash him, amigo... we told him to agree with everything she said, so maybe she introduced him to los finos placeres de la sodomía.”  Teresa coloured three shades darker, and Eileen was ready to scold Jarrod and, just as a precaution, Gabriel for their thoughts, but the taller blond pyro winced and gave James a sudden sympathetic look.

“Oh, sainte Mère, j'espère que non.  He doesn't look like the kind of guy that's into that, and hell, that wasn't what I was aimin' for.  Just a few bruises on his body an' a couple more on his asshole ego.  Pour moi, ça se sent un peu comme nous avons laissé lui se faire violer... donc... _James,_ mec... man, if she did that to ya, I'm sorry-”

“I don't wanna hear it, arsehole!”, James ground out – Sam groaned, pushed herself away from the wall she'd been leaning against and roughly pulled up the other pyro.

“Listen, _Handerson_ , no one – and I mean _no one –_ calls my lover, my _partner_ , an arsehole!  Least of all if he apologizes to you for getting your ugly arse _raped_ by a _prostitute_ that he paid-”

“Yeah, to get me tied up and slapped around like an unruly foster-child!”, James protested, torn between anger and intense pain from the iron grip Sam had on his upper arm.

“Yeah, well, _that_ I paid for.  Lettin' her shove things up you, that I _didn't_ want.  Je ai été jaloux, mais je sais encore comment séparer le bien du mal, et de forcer un homme hétéro d'avoir chose comme ça fait à lui-même, c'est très mal. Crois-moi, j'l'ai vu se produire en prison, et c'est pas joli chose.”  He shuddered and then snorted, looking James over as he half-winced in Sam's hold.  “...Anyway, man, you're right to be angry, but so am I, salaud – you tried to get Sammy to your room.  An' I told you last night, I could've been a lot less subtle.  This way ya still get to go home relatively in one piece to your team.”  The other pyro looked him over, torn between lashing out angrily and begrudgingly accepting that Gabriel was right, but in the end he just pulled himself loose from Sam's hold and stalked back to his corner, turning his back ostensibly to the group and not sitting down anymore.  Sam let him go and shook her head.  “Ne t'en fais pas pour lui, Sam, il n'est qu'un imbécile minable quand même.”

“I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about _you_ , all that energy you put into being angry at him or jealous of him – which I don't understand in the least, he's definitely not my type-”

“Oh, I understand why he's jealous – James reminds our charming Gabriel of _himself,_ only a couple of years younger and a couple of vices fewer.”, Eileen said, and Gabriel shrugged.

“Putain, quoi importe qu'il n'a pas d'la pyromanie, ou qu'il ne s'a pas enivré chaque jour pour les cinq ans passés?  Who fuckin' _cares_ that he isn't as bad as I was at his fuckin' age?!  He's fuckin' _worse_ , I would _never_ get anyone drunk to get 'em to fuck me!  Besides, what's _his_ fuckin' excuse, huh?  What's the reason _he_ has a stick up his ass-”

“Gabriel, mon amour, calme-toi...  James isn't worth the breath or the energy.”, Sam said, shaking her head and turning to the door at the far end of the room that opened up to allow the Administrator entrance together with her assistant, miss Pauling.  It was the mousy woman that spoke up softly.

“For your battle tests, you'll be split into three pairs – and to make sure that you do not fight your colleagues, we'll have the ladies fighting as BLU and the men as RED-”

“You want me to... put on a _RED_ uniform?  Wait, scratch that, you want me to be in _the same team as bloody Dangerfeld_?!”, James said loudly, adding in a disgusted tone: “ _Not bloody likely-_ ”

“Mister Handerson...”, the Administrator said, her voice hoarse and authorative and showing that she wouldn't accept any rebuttal or protest, “...you'll comply or you can _pack your bags_ to make room for a more _competent_ pyro.  Your job demands sacrifices: today, the sacrifice happens to be your disgust for the men and women on the other side of the battlefield for the duration of this evaluation.  Pig-headedness is _not_ going to win you this battle.”

“Ahem...”, the little assistant cleared her throat, causing James to back down again and the others to look at her once more, “...the battle order is set in reverse alphabetic order.  That means that mister Handerson will fight miss Tennant first-”  James groaned, looking at Sam with a pleading look in his eyes that was completely lost on her.  “-followed by mister Dantan, who will fight miss Reilly-”

“No mercy.”, Eileen said, and Gabriel grinned, patting his Axtinguisher eagerly.

“Pas d'pitié, ma belle.”

“-and finally, mister Dangerfeld will take on miss Hernandez.”

“Ah, amiga, parece que 'Chile frente México' se va decidir hoy.”, Jarrod said with a smile that got Teresa to chuckle and nod.

“Que gane el piro mejor.  Good luck, Jarrod, amigo.”

“Hehe, same to you, mi amiga hermosa.”  Then, the six pyros turned back to miss Pauling for the rest of the explanation, which followed instantly.

“It'll be a melee only battle – no shotguns or flareguns, no flamethrowers.  This is meant to display pure physical and tactical prowess in close-quarters combat, just like it'd occur on your own bases – but to make sure none of you has an advantage over the others, you'll be fighting in a recreated version of a battlefield none of you have any experience with, which is the Gorge control point map.  It's not about control points here, however, but about seeing how adept you are at dealing with your colleague-firestarters.  ...Any more questions?  ...No?”, she asked, after which the wizened old woman stepped forward and motioned for Gabriel, Jarrod and James.

“Okay, gentlemen, if you would follow me?”, the Administrator said, motioning for the door which led outside.  “Ladies, you will find your suits and gear there, in those dressing rooms.”

 

Sam found herself walking apprehensively into the corridor, her hammer's solid weight dependable and trusted in her hands as it had been on every day of the three months she'd been using it.  Somewhere far off, she could hear another door sliding shut, telling her that James was also inside the twisting corridors looking for her.  A small wave of disgust rippled through her at the thought of the fair-haired pyro that had been so charming the day before: all his charm, all his talking to her, had been nothing but a ruse to get her to drop her guard, to make his endeavours at getting her uninhibited _easier_.  The mere thought of being tricked – of being _duped_ , really – into forgoing her lover's company in favour of his... it sent her blood boiling with rage, rage that felt similar to the indignant anger she'd felt at her brother's demise and the way she'd been treated by her parents as a result: anger at being the person to suffer because of someone else's misconduct.

She wouldn't stand for it, at all.

Pressing herself in between a few silos, she could hear footsteps approaching and she calmed her own breathing.  James was right on her tail, but with a little luck, he'd pass her by, allowing _her_ to chase _him_ down.  It would give her an edge, something she desperately needed if she took his Backscratcher into consideration.  The other pyro's footsteps grew louder and then slowed down until they were right on the other side of the silo.  Then, from there, they slowly moved away again, but Sam didn't move – which was fortunate, because they returned only ten seconds later.  Sam could hear the rattle of a bottle of pills and she knew that her fellow pyro had picked them up where he'd run off to, which gave her an idea.  Unless there were two spots were there'd be emergency medical supplies, the other pyro would stick close to that spot – and he'd get a lot more out of those than she would.  But if she'd manage to get him as he was en route to the supplies... especially if she'd just picked up a new load of them...

Grinning, she walked out from behind the silo when James ran off the way he'd come again.

 

“Fuck... where the hell _is_ she...”, James groaned, slowing down from a run to a speedy walk for a second to catch his breath.  He'd been running for ten minutes straight, which had taught him two things.  The first and most important one was that there was only one spot with supplies, which was in the corridor just off the main room; the second fact was that _he hadn't seen head nor hair of Samantha Tennant_.  It was becoming more than a little eerie.  Had the wispy woman outrun him?  Was _she_ chasing _him_?  Was he going to walk around the next corner and get his face smashed in by the wrecking hammer she wielded?  “...Pfeh, that's a preposterous thought...”, he muttered to himself, walking into the main room again, looking around for a second, his ears attuned to the sound of running footsteps coming from behind him and picking up nothing.  A sigh left him as he walked ahead, lowering his Backscratcher slightly, making to round the corner to head to the health supplies.

He barely got any warning other than the sudden 'whoosh' of the hammer swinging at him – he barely managed to dodge it, the Backscratcher clattering to the ground as he rolled to the right, against the wall.  Letting slip a curse, he scrambled to his feet just in time for the Homewrecker to smash into the tiles where he'd been only seconds before.  However, when he made an attempt to grab his rake, Sam kicked it away before turning back to him to swing the hammer horizontally, causing him to duck and turn to the only option he had left, which was hand-to-hand combat.  However, she'd clearly anticipated it and reacted accordingly: her elbow connected to his right fist and his left crosspunch faltered just enough for her to sidestep it, bringing her 'Sap-B-Gone' in a downward arc and ending it up, almost as if by chance, against his leg, causing him to grunt and roll away.  It ended him up nearer to his rake, but his knee protested as he got up, which gave Sam the opportunity to kick it away again and once again swing her sledgehammer, which he only barely dodged.

“Fuck, you are _good_ with that bloody thing...”, he ground out, and Sam merely snorted before moving to swing her sledgehammer again – only she'd been faking it, because when James moved to duck underneath it, he found her fist connect with his bruised cheek hard and he yelped, feeling dazed for a second.  The next thing he knew, Sam had her foot planted squarely in his stomach, knocking the wind out of him for a second.  However, when she didn't move her foot away quick enough, he grabbed hold of her leg and twisted it, upsetting her balance and causing her to fall to the ground.  It was only then, as Sam groaned and moved to get up, that James realized that he had to make a choice.  Sam had kicked his rake well out of reach, into the right-hand corridor.  He could run to grab it, but then he'd still be reduced to a slower limp and she could still slowly but surely bludgeon him to death.  However, if he went for the medical supplies in the left-hand corridor, he'd be pain-free but without his weapon – however, that was a much more agreeable prospect, as his hand-to-hand approach left him a little quicker than Sam, who was slowed down by the weight and size of the hammer she wielded.  Grinning, James dashed into the leftmost corridor, making for the medical supplies that were stashed just around the corner...

...only to find _nothing there_.

“Wrong choice.”  Sam's words barely registered through his utter surprise, but the full-on hit of the sledgehammer against his lower ribs did: a loud 'crack' sounded and James cried out in sudden, blinding pain.

“AAHHH!!  Bloody witch!”

“ _I_ took them, Handerson.  Guess you're not as good as you thought... you didn't know that it takes time for new supplies to appear – and you didn't spot me coming from the hallway with the supplies...”, Sam said, taking care to hold the hammer in both hands as she moved to stand over James, who could only crawl along the ground, the pain robbing him of the strength to get up immediately.  Another swing, this time on his lower back, made him feel oddly detached of his body and ended him up with his face against the cold tiles.  He could see the cracks in them and the slightest hint of droplets of blood.  Were they his or was it hers?  Had she inflicted an injury on herself in order to be allowed to pick up the supplies?  As he coughed, a second later, and more blood sprayed across the floor, his question was answered – and a second after that, when Sam's foot connected hard to the other side of his body, the reason why became clear as well as he found his responses slow down.  “...That's too much blood you coughed up to be just your nose... so that must mean your lungs... well, I'll make it quick.  Quick and... I can't say 'painless' because having your head smashed in will certainly _hurt as hell_...”

“N-no...”, James said, somehow mustering the strength to turn over so he lay on his back.  “...Not... my head... any... thing else...”

“Happy respawn, James, and try not to be a sore loser...”, was all Sam said, ignoring the way he feebly tried to raise his hands in front of his face and failed, which also meant that the last thing he saw before his painful, gruesome, but mercifully _instant_ death was the hammerhead coming straight for him.

 

Gabriel's hands suddenly itched as he ran through the hallways.  He knew Eileen had been let in before him, but that didn't matter – he and the Irishwoman had promised each other no mercy, and he intended to be true to his promise.  The previous day, the anger he'd felt at James, the tedious discussions and the tension of being evaluated with all of his shortcomings so glaringly obvious: it had all served to make him _itch_ for a chance to prove himself where it really mattered, which meant on the job.  Which in turn meant that the Axtinguisher in his hand would get another nice set of bloodstains on top of the already existing ones, blood that he'd never otherwise get on it.  'Ah, she's gonna give me a _good_ fight – maybe a _dirty_ fight where she kicks and punches her way into winning, but hell, I could never feel bad about losing to Eileen, she's a _banshee_ when it comes to this fuckin' job...', he mused, mindful of his own footsteps.  Everything he could hear, Eileen could hear as well.  Everything save perhaps his heartbeat, which was loud as Sam's music of choice in his ears, and with just as high a rhythm.  Suddenly, her choice of music made more sense ot him: his heartbeat only served to heighten his excitement, and he counterbalanced it by deep but quiet breaths in order to make sure that Eileen wouldn't hear him panting if it came to it.  He would consider it a shame if a good ambush was lost because he gave himself away.

And of course, she'd do the same thing.

Quickly, Gabriel backed himself into a corner where he'd be hidden from view unless she knew exactly where he was, pressing his back against the wall so not even his shadow could betray his whereabouts, and he assessed the situation.  Eileen would also be using a similar weapon to his own – a slightly smaller version of the Axtinguisher, maybe, because she didn't have his muscle, but the same barb-wire-adorned old-style fireaxe – so neither of them would have a clear advantage over the other, meaning it'd come down to either of three variables: strength, speed and smarts.  When it came to strength, he was clearly Eileen's superior, but he was too tall to be as fast as the petite woman, not to mention she was almost ten years his junior and would have faster reflexes.  So it came down to intelligence.  Normally, he'd concede defeat in that area as well, but when it came to battle strategies, he'd had ample experience.  Nearly _twice_ as long as Eileen, almost the longest-standing career in RED – the only one that had worked for them longer had been his predecessor – and that gave him a slight edge.  And when he remembered how she'd eagerly spoken up first to say 'no mercy', he grinned.  She was eager for a fight, so she'd come looking for him and she'd _keep_ looking for him.

All _he_ needed to do was _choose a good spot and wait her out_...

 

“Shite...”, Eileen ground out while running.  Her heartrate was high as ever, both from the adrenaline rush battling gave her and from apprehension.  She had figured on a lot of things when it came to the 'battle test' but _not_ that she'd be pitted against Gabriel.  The man was... a lot of things, she mused absent-mindedly as she paused for a moment, ducking behind a stack of crates to recollect her thoughts and ease her tension a little again.  He was lewd, he was an addict – or he used to be, she corrected, because hadn't Sam told her he hadn't drunk for weeks?  But he was also strong, and tall, and a veteran pyro.  “...He's got nine and a half feckin' years of experience...”, she whispered to herself.  When it'd come down to it, he'd know how to ambush, and if he managed to get the upper hand in the fight, he wouldn't be defeated.  Her only hope was to use what little advantages _she_ held over him: speed, agility, quick reflexes and even quicker thinking.  Grinning, she grabbed hold of her Axtinguisher again and ran on.

The only warning she had, as she rounded the corner to head over to the supply area she'd visited before, was the softest squeak of a shoe on the tiles, but it was enough to cause her to duck away and roll, causing Gabriel's weapon to only graze her – though the barbed wire still tore a large gash in her flameproof suit, exposing the skintight T-shirt she wore underneath.  Cursing, Eileen pushed herself up to instantly duck another swing of Gabriel's Axtinguisher, deflecting the majority of the damage by using the handle of her own version of that weapon.  She could feel the barbed wire drag across her gloves, making deep scratches in the skin underneath that stung when they got exposed to air.

However, she had room for a swing of her own and she swung quickly, determined to get Gabriel into the defensive.  The swing wasn't strong enough to achieve anything but a slight scratch in his side, but it did cause the opposing pyro to groan in pain and become a little more guarded.

He swung his axe again, horizontally this time, clearly aiming for her head; Eileen ducked and intended to swing her own axe low, swiping across his belly, but only realized her mistake when she felt Gabriel's leg connect to her own and knock her over, ending her up flat on her face on the tile floor.  He also changed the direction of his swing after that and she yelped when she felt the axehead hit her lower left leg.  Because it'd been a feint, he hadn't put strength into the blow, but it still managed to cut into the suit and into her exposed leg below, the barbed wire digging in especially deep.  Grunting when he pulled it out, she rolled over and got up a little more slowly than before, cursing herself.  Of course he'd be focused on disabling her one asset, which was her speed!  With her reduced to limping out of sheer pain, she wouldn't be able to duck as easily and quickly as she did before.  Biting back a curse, she used her frustration to give her next swing extra power – Gabriel took a step back and shook his head with an amused grin, which only fuelled her aggravation.  He was _amused_!  Where did he get the _right_ to gloat at her?!

“Dantan, you're going to wish you didn't do that-”, she ground out, slowly moving forward – only to notice why her fellow pyro had taken a step back as he shook out a few painkillers and then threw away the bottle, well out of her reach.  She'd lost track of the supplies, but he hadn't, and he'd manoeuvred them into such a position that he stood in between them and her.

However, she mused with a grin, he was now almost literally standing with his back against the wall, severely limiting his manoeuvrability.  And when she took a step forward and swung her axe low, a little stronger than before so he now grunted _loudly,_ he seemed to realize it as well if his expression of shock was anything to go on.  Nevermind the feeling of blood slowly trickling down her leg, and nevermind the fact that he was still between the supplies and her, he had nowhere to go and she could slowly wear him down.

“Made a mistake, did we?”, she said triumphantly, swinging out again and changing the direction of her swing to break through his defense, literally – his downward swing still connected to her chest, the blade of the axe slashing through the suit and the T-shirt underneath, the barbed wire cutting into her skin and causing her to wince, but that was peanuts compared to the way her own axe dug into his left upper arm, causing it to go limp.  Gabriel was left-handed, she'd noticed, so now he'd be practically defenseless.  “You're going to pay for that mistake, Dantan-”, she said as his axe clattered to the ground.

The next second, as Gabriel bent low and grabbed the handle of his axe off the ground with his right hand and, in the same motion, swung it upwards, embedding the axe in her stomach, her triumph left her just as quickly as her blood did, flowing freely from the deep and grisly wound he'd made.  She could only whimper and look down at the horrid sight of the Axtinguisher embedded in her own body feeling oddly cold all of a sudden, knowing that death wasn't just inevitable, but that it'd be slow and drawn-out, and _painful_.

“T'as oublié, ma chère...”, he said as he slowly got up while she dropped to her knees, her own weapon falling from unresponsive hands, “...j'suis ambidextre.  It was a good fight, and you're a good pyro – fuckin' amazing with that Axtinguisher, quick on your feet and good with that brain... a pity that it's over.”

“N-no mercy...”, she ground out, shaking her head and looking up at the man that was now poised to kill her.  It was a _long way up_ , she mused, perhaps because she was already getting tunnel vision from the bloodloss.

“J'ai promis pas d'pitié... but for that fuckin' great fight, let's call it _'a little_ consolation' that I won't let ya just bleed out, ouais?”, he said, and before she could protest, he swung his axe horizontally, severing her head from her shoulders and ending her life in a blinding shoot of pain through a body that was no longer hers.

 

Teresa looked at the axe she held, sighing.  There was no taking away the soft orange glow it cast across the walls, but it would serve her better than her usual Backscratcher in a battle like this, which was the reason why she'd taken it along.  Dwight had advised it to her from all the weapons she'd amassed over the years, remarking that it was the only weapon that could ignite when she couldn't use her flamethrower or her flaregun, and she'd grown to rely on the use of fire for her job.  But now, when she was up against Jarrod Dangerfeld, the only one that she felt was a match for her own tireless energy in battle, she suddenly missed the comfort of a more familiar weapon in her hands, and the familiarity of the battlefield she'd fought on for well-on four and a half years.  Not to mention she would've liked to hear how Sam and Eileen had fared.  All in all, she felt nervous, which wasn't a good way to start a fight for her life against another pyro.

But then she realized that Jarrod wouldn't be familiar with the arena either, and that he wouldn't have heard how James and Gabriel's battles had gone if she hadn't seen her friends either.  Sure, he would have a familiar weapon, but when it came down to it, a weapon was just a weapon.

Slowing down for a second to listen whether there were footsteps other than her own that she could hear, which would mean that Jarrod was close, she focused once again on the most important matter at hand: the arena.  She'd run around in most of the hallways to find that they were cramped.  If she and her team would fight there, and if she would have her flamethrower and her flaregun, she would use those to her advantage to ambush and to repel attackers with ease.  They were easily defensible and wouldn't allow two people at once to pass through them, plus there were ample hiding places such as boxes, silos, pipeline clusters, and half-opened doorways leading to small utility rooms.  However, the two main rooms – the control point room, she guessed, though the capture system wasn't hooked up, and the room in front of it – were big and had no chokepoints for her.  Dwight could place his machines to great effect in them, that much was true, but to her they only meant certain death.  Too many approaches for the enemy, who could crowd in and overpower her...

But this was a one-on-one fight, she reminded herself, so she had to think as if it was a 'last man standing' situation between her and Eileen.  Once or twice, it had come down to that, the respawn system holding back the others until one team proved victorious simply by having at least one team member standing.  It was never pleasant, because she invariably got sent on the offensive and therefore killed, but it had happened.  Eileen, true to her loyalty to the company, never hesitated... there had been times when she'd killed her girlfriend, or been killed by her... and times, rare times, when they'd both killed each other at the same time...

Shaking her head, she focused again on finding a good spot for fighting Jarrod.  Out in the open seemed her best chance, because the more room to manoeuvre they'd have, the easier it would be to run for the emergency medical supplies.  If she ended up with her back against the wall, all she'd accomplish was to make Jarrod's job easier.

Then, as she was strategizing, she moved to the next important thing to consider, which was the enemy.  Going over what she knew about Jarrod, she quickly figured that she would have to go for his scars: on the left side of his face and shoulder and his right hip.  Her axe shimmered a little brighter, as if to agree, and secretly she felt a pang of regret for exploiting her fellow pyro's weakness to fire in those spots.  But she was supposed to fight just as well as she did back home, and she wouldn't disappoint.  Continuing, she considered Jarrod's enthusiasm and energy.  In terms of strength, she figured he'd be stronger than Eileen and on par with herself.  If push came to shove, he'd also be able to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat, she guessed, but his attacks would be sloppier and he lacked the knowledge she had due to her past – a knowledge that she'd use no matter how much the way she'd gotten it grieved her deeply.

When she heard footsteps approaching slowly, she smiled and grabbed her axe in two hands, moving to the middle of the room she'd ended up in.  Close to emergency supply caches but not in close quarters, they were ideal.

'Here we go...', she mused as Jarrod ducked around the corner, looking around to see her and instantly grinning before walking up to her.

 

“Hermosa, _here_ you are!”, Jarrod said as he noticed Teresa standing in the middle of the room, holding an axe unlike any one he'd seen before.  It was black with a red-and-yellow edge that shimmered, almost looking like it was carved from some precious stone, and a slight plume of smoke rose from it.  “I've been looking for you...”

“Well, you found me, listo.  Now, are you coming over here to fight or do you expect me to let you run back the way you came from, back to respawn?”  She was teasing him, he knew, and he snorted, raising his Axtinguisher a little.

“I could ask you the same question, hermosa – but we both know how this'll end.”  He slowly walked up to her as she walked to him, and they warily circled each other, sizing each other up and looking tirelessly for an opening for the first attack, exchanging smalltalk all the while.  However, Jarrod quickly saw that his female opponent was attentive and guarded just as much as he was and he grinned a little more broadly.  “Ah, que eres lista.  This is not going to be quick...”

“Do you _want_ it to be quick, amigo?”, she asked, smiling back at him, and he shrugged – the gesture made her lunge out but he quickly deflected the blow with his own weapon, following up her attack with a counterattack that grazed her and that tore the sleeve of her fireproof suit, exposing the tanned skin underneath.

“I want it to be _worthwhile_ , hermosa.”  He was the one to lunge first the next time: she deflected his blow and her own blade grazed the back of his hand, making the slightest cut in the fabric but... “...Que quema?”  He couldn't have mistaken it: her axe had _burnt_ him.  The back of his hand was stinging as if someone had held it against the hot edge of a pan.  “Seriamente, tienes un hacha que arde?”

“Yes.  Dwight advised it-”

“I'll need to meet that engie of yours, have a good long talk to him about _torture-devices_ like that.  Me duele!”, Jarrod said, feeling a little less secure of himself.  If she managed to nick him over his burns, no matter that they were already old, it wouldn't feel good... but then again, he thought, she'd have a hell of a time doing that when she was wounded herself.  And as if she had heard his thoughts and felt pity on him, she left her left side unguarded as she responded to him, something he gladly used to step closer to him and lunge low, his Axtinguisher cutting into her upper arm, right below the shoulder, severing tendons and cutting into muscles and blood vessels.  The shriek that left her made him feel a little dissatisfied – he thought very fondly of Teresa, considering her a kindred spirit in a lot of ways – but the way her left arm was now uselessly dangling next to her meant that he'd just upped his chances.  Keeping his guard up, he stepped back again, looking at her apologetically.  “Lo siento, hermosa, but I have to...”

“Sí, lo sé.  It's not over yet, Jarrod, amigo... not by a long shot...”  He meant to reply and say that he had a definite advantage now, but then she stepped closer to him, moving her axe vertically in what he thought was an attempt to swing at his chest – when he moved to block it, she changed the direction of her swing and moved for his right side instead.  Only by sheer luck did he manage to weaken the attack: her change of direction left her vulnerable in the arm with which she swung and he hit her shoulder hard with the handle of his Axtinguisher, but she still managed to cut through his suit and the two layers of cloth underneath, the axeblade cutting shallowly into his hip.  But instantly it felt like his old scars were brand new and _raw_ again, and he groaned.

“Que queme, mierda!”  He found himself going a little slower and needing a little more time to move his leg properly due to the pain, something Teresa used to her advantage, it seemed, as she swung her axe again, this time aiming at his left arm.  He couldn't duck the swing, but her left arm was still hanging limp by her side, meaning that her left side was completely unguarded.  Stepping to the right, he swung low and embedded his axe in her hip, causing Teresa to again shriek in pain and then whimper as he withdrew his Axtinguisher again, watching her fall to her knee.  She couldn't get up anymore, he knew, not with the entire left side of her out of commission.  As it was, she clearly struggled not to fall to the floor outright.

“Mierda... po-podrá suceder esto – _nnngh_ – verdad?”, she ground out, and he shrugged.

“You got me good, amiga, but yeah, ha terminado.”  He raised his axe over his head for the killing blow and swung down – but Teresa, severely wounded though she was, was not fully incapacitated, and as he swung down, she did likewise, her fireaxe cutting from his chest to his stomach before resting there at the same time as his Axtinguisher planted itself squarely in the back of her head and neck.  Jarrod looked down at the grisly sight of his body cut open like a disemboweled animal, the wound smoking and the scent of burning flesh rising from the axe, and then at Teresa, who looked back with eyes already glazing over, blood spilling over her lips in steady waves as she tried to speak.

“H-hermosa... buena... pe...le...a _aahhh..._ ”, he ground out as he dropped to his knees, and then, as he lost consciousness, to the side, ending him and his opponent up dead side by side in the middle of the room, right in the center of a generous pool of their combined blood.

 

“...So...”, Gabriel asked later as the six of them walked from the railway station parking lot up to their platform, their bags in their hands.  “...Who do you think did the best?  My personal favorite-”

“Is you, Gabriel, we _all know_ you've got an ego like a hot-air balloon.”, Eileen said, unable to keep some measure of offended huffiness out of her tone, to which Gabriel answered by shaking his head.

“I was gonna say 'my personal favorite is Sammy because that looked _so satisfying'_ -”

“Oh, Gabriel, love, there was nothing satisfying about splattering James' grey matter all over my boots...”, Sam answered, looking back at the man that had lost the battle from her, who was walking a good ten feet behind all of them looking at the pavement tiles and muttering profanities under his breath.  “...and he fought well.  No matter how much of an idiot he was for trying to get me to sleep with him last night.”  James looked up at that, clearly having heard her, but then returned to muttering obscenities and wishes of bodily harm upon all five of the others, though now with a little less venom as before.  Jarrod seemed to realize that as well if his next words were any indication.

“Yeah, well, the BLU pendejo may be a psychopath in disguise, but he _is_ a good fighter, amiga.  I can testify to that, he's killed me good a couple of times.  ...No, my favorite has got to be Teresa.  She was down, but hell, she wasn't out-”

“We _tied_ , Jarrod.  I thought the Administrator was going to die when we _both_ respawned.  She hadn't counted on a tie.”, Teresa supplied, wringing her hands a little until Eileen grabbed hold of them, causing the Mexican pyro to smile softly – a smile that broadened when Jarrod spoke up.

“Ella debe haber pensado en un empate, también.  She should've thought about _all_ the options, not just 'A kills B' and 'B kills A'.  ...You were great out there, hermosa.  I'm glad we'll never have to fight each other.  ...But Sam and Gabriel did great as well.  Decapitation with an Axtinguisher... messy, _messy_ business, never thought I'd see it... gave me good ideas for my next battle with James.”

“You don't need ideas for your next battle with me, Jarrod, you Chili _wanker_... you need a bloody _miracle_ to survive it...”, the BLU pyro ground out from behind them, and Sam snorted.

“I told you, James, take your loss like a man of honor.”

“Oh, he's never going to be a man of honor, amiga.”, Jarrod said – James glared at him and looked like he was going to give a nice loud retort when they arrived in the station's main hall and Sam pointed at the timetable.

“Jarrod, James, your train's leaving in five minutes-”

“ _Mierda,_ tendré que darse prisa!  Eileen, Teresa, amigas, see ya again next year.  Sam, amiga...”, he said, throwing his arms around her and kissing her on both cheeks happily before turning to Gabriel and doing the same.  “And you, cabrón... keep safe, keep fightin' like that, and keep-”

“Jarrod Dangerfeld, if you finish that sentence I might just kill you right here, bare-handed.”, Eileen warned him, and Jarrod merely winked and mouthed 'have fun together' at his friends before running for the platform.  James merely gave the others a stiff nod before walking behind the Chilean, not looking back at the four remaining pyros, who looked the timetable over to see whether they'd still need to wait long.

“...Our train's already in, Gabriel, mon amour, want to go find good seats?”

“Heh, if ya mean 'want to go find an empty car'...”, he teased – Teresa blushed and Eileen glared at him, causing him to throw his hands up and add: “What?  I'm a private guy!  I like it when there ain't people gawking at me because 'look at the _huge guy_ kissin' his _tiny girlfriend that's at least ten years younger_ '!  I don't know if ya noticed, Eileen fuckin' Reilly, but I don't exactly look Sam's age anymore!  I'm thirty-six, and I _look_ thirty-six!  ...C'mon, Sam, let 'em think I can't keep my hands off you all they want, I want an empty car and I'll do my best to _not_ keep my hands off ya _just to make these two blush all the way home_.”  If Teresa had blushed before, it was nothing compared to the deep red tinge that now adorned her cheeks, and Eileen looked torn between anger, amusement and slight guilt.  Sam, however, spoke more softly.

“Eileen, Teresa, it was nice, as always... and Gabriel really does dislike the way we always get attention.  Not in the town near our base, since they've gotten used to seeing us together, but if we go anywhere else, people feel the need to stare and judge, and Gabriel's self-esteem is brittle as it is...”

“Well, Gabriel's always going to be his charming self...”, Teresa said softly, giving the other pyro a brief hug, after which Eileen did the same.  “Stay safe, you two, and don't get into too much trouble...”

“Same goes to you – give that engineer of yours my compliments for choosin' that fuckin' _murderous_ weapon, it happened to be just what ya needed to force that tie outta Jarrod.  And, uh, don't misbehave any more than me an' Sammy do.”  It was said warmly, and that, more than anything, was why Eileen merely rolled her eyes and shooed her two friends off before turning to her own girlfriend and smiling.

“...I think we still have time for a cup of coffee, right?  After two full days with Dangerfeld and Dantan, I _deserve_ it.”

“Don't we all...”, Teresa agreed, and the two pyros walked off to a a coffee bar, hand in hand.


End file.
